Dose reduction in subsecond multislice spiral CT examination of children by online tube current modulation

The potential of online tube current modulation in subsecond multislice spiral CT (MSCT) examinations of children to reduce the dose without a loss in image quality is investigated in a controlled patient study. The dose can be reduced for oval patient sectional view without an increase in noise if the tube current is reduced where the patient diameter and, consequently, attenuation are small. We investigated a product version of an online control for tube current in a SOMATOM Sensation 4 (Siemens, Forchheim). We evaluated image quality, noise and dose reduction for examinations with online tube current modulation in 30 MSCT of thorax/abdomen and abdomen and compared mA s for tube current modulation to the mA s in standard weight-adapted children protocols. Image quality was rated as "very good," "good," "diagnostic" and "poor" in a consensus by three radiologists. Noise was assessed in comparison to 24 MSCT examinations without tube current modulation measured as SD in ROIs. The dose was reduced from 26 to 43% (mean 36%), depending on the patient's geometry and weight. In general, no loss of image quality was observed. Measured noise showed a decrease up to 26% and an increase up to 36%, although there was no decrease of image quality. Online tube current modulation is now used as a standard in MSCT at our institution. Dose in MSCT examinations of children can be reduced substantially in routine examinations by online tube current modulation without a loss of image quality.