An evaluation of computed tomography dose index measurements using a pencil ionisation chamber and small detectors

The aim of this study was to compare the values of the computed tomography dose index 100 (CTDI₁₀₀) obtained using two small detectors (i.e. a small ionisation chamber and a small solid state detector) with those obtained from a 100 mm pencil ionisation chamber for various input CT parameters: beam width, kVp, mAs, pitch, and head-body phantom variation. The measurement of CTDI₁₀₀ using the 100 mm pencil chamber was carried out in a single rotation of axial mode, while the measurement using small detectors was carried out in helical mode. The differences of CTDI₁₀₀ values obtained with two small detectors were about 7% for all variations. The differences of CTDI₁₀₀ values obtained with small detectors and a 100 mm pencil ionisation chamber for beam widths of more than 4 mm were within 40%. However, for the narrowest beam widths (4 mm), the difference between them was very large (about 150%).