MO-B-218-01: Managing the Pediatric Patient's CT Dose: The Role of SSDE

As many as 6 - 8 million CT scans are performed annually in the United States on pediatric patients. The majority of these CT scans are not performed in pediatric hospitals that specialize in addressing the unique requirements of pediatric imaging. Instead, most of these scans occur in adult hospitals, where pediatric CT scanning is a small fraction of the total caseload. Both adult and pediatric hospitals need a simple method that allows the management of the CT radiation dose received by each patient based on the patient's physical size. This lecture suggests some simple tools and techniques that the qualified medical physicist can introduce to an individual practice in an effort to properly manage CT doses. This lecture begins by exploring the unique challenges presented by the pediatric patient in the management of their radiation dose during CT scanning. This is followed by an explanation of the basic science behind the development of the Size Specific Dose Estimate (SSDE) in CT, the strengths and weaknesses of the method, and some sample calculations. The presentation concludes by exploring the clinical application of SSDE in the day to day management of the radiation dose during CT scanning of not only small pediatric patients, but also patients who are larger than the average size adult.

1. Understand the basic challenges associated with CT imaging of children. 2. Understand the basic science used to develop SSDE, its strengths and its limitations 3. Understand the application of SSDE in the clinic in the daily management of pediatric CT doses.