New technology could reduce radiation exposure in CT scans

A study from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in the US is the first to calculate exactly how much additional radiation obese patients receive from a CT scan. Research results show the internal organs of obese men receive 62 per cent more radiation during a CT scan than those of normal-weight men. For obese women, it was an increase of 59 per cent.

Technology developed at Rensselaer by nuclear engineering expert Xie George Xu could help solve this problem. Xu’s research team created realistic 3D computer models of overweight and obese men and women, and used computer simulations to determine how X-rays interact with the different body types.

These models, known as ‘phantoms’, can help physicians to configure and optimise CT scanning devices in such a way that minimises how much radiation a patient receives.

‘Radiation exposure is cumulative over a patient’s lifetime,’ said Xu, head of the Nuclear Engineering Program and a professor in the Department of Mechanical, Aerospace and Nuclear Engineering (MANE) at Rensselaer.