Dose Reduction and Image Quality Optimization of Pediatric Chest Radiography Using a Tungsten Filter

The use of diagnostic radiology in pediatric patients has increased, and various positive effects have been reported, including methods to reduce radiation doses in children. Research has been conducted to preserve image quality while reducing exposure and doses in pediatric patients. This study aimed to measure four different filters to identify an optimized filter for pediatric patients. The experiment was conducted using four types of filters, including aluminum, copper, molybdenum, and tungsten. The optimal filter thickness was verified using a histogram to visually evaluate the spectrum by filter thickness, effective dose on a pediatric phantom, entrance skin dose, organ absorbed dose using the PC-based Monte Carlo (PCXMC) program version 2.0 simulation, figure of merit (FOM), and image quality. As a result of measuring the spectrum according to the tube voltage and the four types of filters, dose reduction and contrast improvement effects were obtained with a 0.05 mm tungsten filter. Additionally, effective entrance skin and organ absorbed dose decreased with the said filter. The aluminum, copper, and molybdenum filters demonstrated that the effective dose scarcely decreased even when the thickness was increased; meanwhile, the effective dose decreased when the tungsten filter was 0.05 mm. The FOM with a 0.05 mm tungsten increased by 91% in the lung field and 39% in the mediastinal field. The entrance skin and organ absorbed dose in pediatric patients can be reduced by removing low-energy photons that fail in image formation using a tungsten filter.