Computational dosimetry in a pediatric i-CAT procedure using virtual anthropomorphic phantoms

Abstract

The craniofacial structure is three-dimensional, and for a better visualization of these structures, Computed Tomography is often employed for diagnoses, even though being a high-cost procedure, leading to increased exposure to ionizing radiation. As a consequence, studies in dosimetry are necessary, since several radiosensitive structures are located in the head and neck, such as thyroid, crystalline and salivary glands. There is an overall consensus regarding the exposure of pediatric patients to ionizing radiation, with recommendations being that the procedures must occur with the shortest exposure time as possible, and it is only prescribed when they are effectively necessary. During the procedures, radiation effects are difficult to be measured. The use of either TL or OSL dosimeters can create artifacts within the images, and the positioning of a large number of dosimeters, necessary for the correct dose evaluation, is not feasible when it comes to a pediatric patient. Therefore pediatric virtual anthropomorphic phantoms and Monte Carlo simulations were used in this work. The absorbed and effective doses were determined during an i-CAT procedure, with 5 different fields of view, utilizing 5- and 10- year-old male virtual anthropomorphic phantoms. The results pointed out that the eye lens, salivary glands and thyroid received the highest doses. Besides, the effective dose values increase with the increasing of the FOV size, and the 5-year-old male virtual anthropomorphic phantom presented the highest effective dose values.