Chest-abdomen-pelvis CT for staging in cancer patients: dose effectiveness and image quality using automated attenuation-based tube potential selection

BACKGROUND: Evaluation of automated attenuation-based tube potential selection and its impact on image quality and radiation dose in CT (computed tomography) examinations for cancer staging. METHODS: A total of 110 (59 men, 51 women) patients underwent chest-abdomen-pelvis CT examinations; 55 using a fixed tube potential of 120 kV/current of 210 Reference mAs (using CareDose4D), and 55 using automated attenuation-based tube potential selection (CAREkV) also using a current of 210 Reference mAs. This evaluation was performed as a single-centre, observer-blinded retrospective analysis. Image quality was assessed by two readers in consensus. Attenuation, image noise, signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), and contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) were measured or calculated for objective image evaluation. For the evaluation of radiation exposure, dose-length-product (DLP) values were compared and Size-specific dose estimates (SSDE) values were calculated. RESULTS: Diagnostic image quality was obtained from all patients. The median DLP (703.5 mGy · cm, range 390–2203 mGy · cm) was 7.9% lower when using the algorithm compared with the standard 120 kV protocol (median 756 mGy · cm, range 345–2267 mGy · cm). A reduction in potential to 100 kV occurred in 32 cases; therefore, these patients received significantly lower radiation exposure compared with the 120 kV protocol. CONCLUSION: Automated attenuation-based tube potential selection produces good diagnostic image quality in chest-abdomen-pelvis CT and reduces the patient’s overall radiation dose by 7.9% compared to the standard 120 kV protocol.