Dose estimation in abdominal CT scans using CT-Exposoftware

The application of ionizing radiation in diagnostic medicine has increased worldwide in the last decades. Computed Tomography (CT) is the main radiological procedure that contributes to the increase of the collective dose in the population. The aim of this study was to estimate the doses received by patients undergoing CT scans in a public hospital in Santa Catarina - Brazil, employing data from the DICOM header and utilizing the CT-Expo V. 2.7 software. The data were selected from 45 abdominal CT scans, performed consisted of two series: pre-contrast and one post-contrast intravenous, of adult patients performed in December 2020 in a public hospital located in Santa Catarina - Brazil. The spreadsheets with the data extracted from the DICOM headers were provided by the Santa Catarina Telemedicine System (STT). The effective dose and organ doses were calculated by CTDIvol and DLP values using the software. Overall, the organs that showed the higher equivalent doses were kidneys (19.5 mSv), spleen (18.5 mSv), stomach (18.9 mSv), and liver (18.1 mSv). The estimated effective doses were 7.31 and 8.41 mSv, for non-contrast and contrast-enhanced examinations. The use of software such as CT-Expo can support the estimation of effective doses received by patients through the information extracted from the DICOM header. The presented methodology can be a useful tool to retrospectively estimate the doses in CT services in Brazil.