PATIENT-SPECIFIC ORGAN DOSES FROM PEDIATRIC HEAD CT EXAMINATIONS

The aim of this work was to estimate patient's organ absorbed doses from pediatric helical head computed tomography (CT) examinations using the Size-Specific Dose Estimate (SSDE) methodology and to determine organ dose to SSDE conversion coefficients for clinical routine. Patient-specific organ and tissue absorbed doses from 139 Head CT scans performed in pediatric patients from 0 to 15 years old in a Public Hospital in Tunja, Colombia were estimated. The calculations were made through Monte Carlo simulations, based on patient-specific information, dosimetric CT quantities (CTDIvol, DLP) and age-specific computational human phantoms matched to patients on the basis of gender and size. SSDE showed to be a good quantity for estimate patient-specific organ doses from pediatric head CT examinations when appropriate phantom's attenuation-based size metrics are chosen to match for any patient size. Strong correlations between absorbed dose and SSDE were found for skin (R2 = 0.99), brain (R2 = 0.98) and eyes (R2 = 0.97), respectively. Besides, a good correlation between SSDE and absorbed dose to the red bone marrow (tissue extended outside the scan coverage) was observed (R2 = 0.94). SSDE-to-organ-dose conversion coefficients obtained in this study provide a practical way to estimate patient-specific organ head CT doses.