Design of a DICOM image-based program for estimating patient exposure dose in computed tomography

During the past decade, there has been a notable worldwide increase in the number of computed tomographic (CT) examinations. Since the radiation exposure to the patient during CT examinations is relatively high, it is important to optimize the dose so that it is set as low as possible but remains consistent with the required diagnostic image quality. Therefore we have developed a Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine (DICOM) image-based program that calculates organ dose and effective dose values corresponding to tube current modulation. The values for primary radiation were derived from manufacturer specifications with international recommendations and from reference values (ICRP publication 60). Based on these values, organ doses can be computed by the program for arbitrary scan protocols in conventional and in spiral CT. In contrast to similar programs for CT dose assessment, our developed program can perform automatic extraction of the scan protocols from the DICOM tag. Users can easily reproduce and recalculate values by loading DICOM data without the requirement for time-consuming work. Additionally, further extensions are planned to our developed software.