Evaluation of the radiation doses in newborn patients submitted to CT examinations

Conference · Wed Jul 01 00:00:00 EDT 2015

OSTI ID:22531225

De Souza Santos, William; Caldas, Linda V.E. ^[1]; Belinato, Walmir ^[2]; Pereira Neves, Lucio; Perini, Ana Paula ^[3]

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1. Instituto de Pesquisas Energeticas e Nucleares, Comissao Nacional de Energia Nuclear (IPENCNEN/SP), Av. Prof. Lineu Prestes, 2242, Cidade Universitaria, 05508-000 Sao Paulo, SP, (Brazil)
2. Departamento de Ensino, Instituto Federal de Educacao, Ciencia e Tecnologia da Bahia, Campus Vitoria da Conquista, Zabele, Av. Amazonas 3150, 45030-220 Vitoria da Conquista, BA, (Brazil)
3. Instituto de Fisica, Universidade Federal de Uberlandia, Caixa Postal 593, 38400-902, Uberlandia, MG, (Brazil)

The number of computed tomography (CT) scans available to the population is increasing, as well as the complexity of such exams. As a result, the radiation doses are increasing as well. Considering the population exposed to CT exams, pediatric patients are considerably more sensitive to radiation than adults. They have a longer life expectancy than adults, and may receive a higher radiation dose than necessary if the CT scan settings are not adjusted for their smaller body size. As a result of these considerations, the risk of developing cancer is of great concern when newborn patients are involved. The objective of this work was to study the radiation doses on radiosensitive organs of newborn patients undergoing a whole body CT examination, utilizing Monte Carlo simulations. The novelty of this work is the use of pediatric virtual anthropomorphic phantoms, developed at the Department of Nuclear Energy at the Federal University of Pernambuco (DEN/UFPE). The CT equipment utilized during the simulations was a Discovery VCT GE PET/CT system, with a tube voltage of 140 kVp. The X-ray spectrum of this CT scanner was generated by the SRS-78 software, which takes into account the X-ray beam energy used in PET/CT procedures. The absorbed organ doses were computed employing the F6 tally (MeV/g). The results were converted to dose coefficients (mGy/100 mA) for all the structures, considering all employed beams. The highest dose coefficients values were obtained for the brain and the thyroid. This work provides useful information regarding the risks involving ionizing radiation in newborn patients, employing a new and reliable technique. (authors)

• Research Organization: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers - IEEE, 3 Park Avenue, 17th Floor, New York, N.Y. 10016-5997 (United States)
• OSTI ID: 22531225
• Report Number(s): ANIMMA-2015-IO-170; TRN: US16V0276102166
• Resource Relation: Conference: ANIMMA 2015: 4. International Conference on Advancements in Nuclear Instrumentation Measurement Methods and their Applications, Lisboa (Portugal), 20-24 Apr 2015; Other Information: Country of input: France; 13 Refs.
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
62 RADIOLOGY AND NUCLEAR MEDICINE
61 RADIATION PROTECTION AND DOSIMETRY
ADULTS
BRAIN
CAT SCANNING
COMPUTERIZED SIMULATION
HAZARDS
INFANTS
MEV RANGE
MONTE CARLO METHOD
NEONATES
NEOPLASMS
PATIENTS
PEDIATRICS
PHANTOMS
POSITRON COMPUTED TOMOGRAPHY
RADIATION DOSES
THYROID
X RADIATION
X-RAY SPECTRA