Comparison of radiation doses between cone beam CT and multi detector CT: TLD measurements

In recent years, wide beam computed tomography (CT) technique has become standard in radiation oncology whereas there is little information about radiation dose assessments for the technique. A point dose measurement method was employed to assess the radiation doses of cone beams CT (CBCT) and multi detectors CT (MDCT). The radiation doses of both modalities were measured using thermoluminescence dosemeters (TLDs) in head and body CT phantoms. Four TLD chips were placed at the centre and each peripheral channel to measure the doses. From the measurements, the weighted CT dose index for CBCT (CTDI(w)(CBCT)) and volume CT dose index for MDCT (CTDI(vol)(MDCT)) were derived. In the results, the CTDI(w)(CBCT) was 89.7 +/- 4.0 mGy and the CTDI(vol)(MDCT) was 137.0 +/- 7.4 mGy for the head scan. For the body scan, they were 37.9 +/- 1.4 and 74.3 +/- 5.3 mGy, respectively. In conclusion, CTDI(w)(CBCT) for the head scan was 35% lower than CTDI(vol)(MDCT), and CTDI(w)(CBCT) for the body scan was also 49% lower than CTDI(vol)(MDCT).