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Published on: July 3, 2014
Characterization of a lead breast shielding for dose reduction in computed tomography
Paula Duarte Correia1, Cristiano Roberto Fabri Granzotti2, Yago da Silva Santos3
1Bachelor degree, Fellow Master degree in Medicine - Area of Investigation in Medical Practice - Faculdade de Medicina de Ribeirão Preto da Universidade de São Paulo (FMRP-USP), Ribeirão Preto, SP, Brazil.
Objective:
Several studies have been published regarding the use of bismuth shielding to protect the breast in computed tomography (CT) scans and, up to the writing of this article, only one publication about barium shielding was found. The present study was aimed at characterizing, for the first time, a lead breast shielding.
Materials And Methods:
The percentage dose reduction and the influence of the shielding on quantitative imaging parameters were evaluated. Dose measurements were made on a CT equipment with the aid of specific phantoms and radiation detectors. A processing software assisted in the qualitative analysis evaluating variations in average CT number and noise on images.
Results:
The authors observed a reduction in entrance dose by 30% and in CTDIvol by 17%. In all measurements, in agreement with studies in the literature, the utilization of cotton fiber as spacer object reduced significantly the presence of artifacts on the images. All the measurements demonstrated increase in the average CT number and noise on the images with the presence of the shielding.
Conclusion:
As expected, the data observed with the use of lead shielding were of the same order as those found in the literature about bismuth shielding.
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