Patient dose from 3D rotational neurovascular studies

The use of image-guided interventional radiological techniques is increasing in prevalence and complexity. Imaging system developments have helped improve the information available to interventionalists to plan and guide procedures. Information on doses to patients resulting from alternative imaging techniques or protocols is useful for both the process of justifying particular procedures and in optimizing the resultant exposures. Such information is not always available, especially for new or developing imaging techniques. We have undertaken a study of doses to patients associated with two alternative imaging methods for pre-intervention assessment of intracranial aneurysms. In the first technique the aneurysm is assessed from a series of digital subtraction angiography (DSA) runs taken at different imaging projections. The second technique involved acquiring images from one single image run while the imaging system rotated 180 degrees around the patient's head. In this technique, the aneurysm was then evaluated from a 3D reconstruction of the projection images. Effective doses were calculated using a computer model to simulate the exposure geometry and parameters. The mean dose from the DSA protocol used at our centre was 3.4 mSv and from the 3D rotational angiography (RA) technique was 0.20 mSv.