Acta clinica Croatica, Vol. 61. No. 2, 2022.
Original scientific paper
https://doi.org/10.20471/acc.2022.61.02.12
Efficiency of Breast Shielding Device in Out-of-Plane Computerized Tomography Imaging of the Abdomen – Preliminary Results
Nikola Ivan Leder
; Merkur University Hospital, Zagreb, Croatia
Jelena Popić
; Merkur University Hospital, Zagreb, Croatia
Željka Knežević
; Ruđer Bošković Institute, Zagreb, Croatia
Vinko Vidjak
; Merkur University Hospital, Zagreb, Croatia
Abstract
The dose absorbed by sensitive breast glandular tissue in abdominal computed
tomography examinations, even when the breasts are outside the primary imaging beam, is still significant.
Several studies have explored using breast shielding with a protective lead sheet or a bra.
Since the source of radiation in computed tomography rotates by 360° around the patient, we made
a custom-tailored shielding device that wraps around the entire thorax. The hypothesis is that such a
custom-tailored breast shielding device provides significantly better dose reduction. Study participants
were female patients with no anatomic anomalies. Entrance surface doses were measured using thermoluminescence
dosimeters placed on the skin of the breast in the control group without shielding
and on the surface and below the shielding device in the group with anterior shielding and the group
with the new device. As expected, according to literature data, doses measured at breast level were
above the threshold that epidemiological studies determine as an increased risk of breast cancer development
although they were not in the primary imaging plane. Preliminary results of our study showed
that average dose reduction was 42% with conventional anterior shielding and 57% with wrapped
shielding compared to the doses measured with no shielding.
Keywords
Breast; Multidetector computed tomography; Radiation protection; Radiation dose; Thermoluminescent dosimetry
Hrčak ID:
284744
URI
Publication date:
1.8.2022.
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