Software tracks CT scan radiation exposure

It is hoped that the software will arm radiologists, medical physicists and patients with more accurate data for making informed decisions about the potential risks and benefits of CT scan procedures.

Project leader Prof Xie George Xu of the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute said: ‘The radiation exposure from a single CT scan is still relatively small when compared with the clinical benefit of the procedure, but patients often receive multiple scans during the course of their diagnostic or therapeutic procedure. Our new software should help to record the exposures more accurately and more consistently.’

A recent report by the US National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements (NCRP) detailed how the US population is now exposed to seven times more radiation every year from medical imaging exams than it was in 1980.

While CT scans only account for 10 per cent of diagnostic radiological exams, the procedure contributes disproportionately — about 67 per cent — to the collective medical radiation exposure.