Evaluation of the impact of personal protective equipment on the automatic exposure control system in computed tomography

The relevance of this study lies in the need to reconsider established approaches to the use of personal protective equipment in computed tomography due to the widespread implementation of automatic tube current and voltage modulation algorithms. Since PPE can distort the input data for these algorithms, their use may not only fail to reduce but could also unjustifiably increase the patient's radiation dose, which requires detailed experimental verification, especially in pediatric practice where patients are most sensitive to ionizing radiation. The aim of this work is to assess the influence of personal protective equipment on the performance of the automatic tube current and voltage modulation programs (CareDose 4D and Care kV) during CT examinations on a Somatom Force (Siemens) scanner, using an anthropomorphic phantom of a five-year-old child. Materials and Methods : The study was conducted at the CT department of the Almazov National Medical Research Centre using an anthropomorphic phantom of a five-year-old child and a technically sound Somatom Force (Siemens) tomograph. To assess the impact of personal protective equipment on the operation of the automatic current and voltage modulation programs (CareDose 4D and Care kV), a series of phantom scans was performed with and without various positioning options for a protective lead apron, simulating real clinical practice. Results and Discussion : The results showed that when a lead apron enters the topogram area, the system interprets this as an increase in the patient's body size and density, which automatically increases the radiation parameters compared to a scan performed without the lead apron. Conclusion: Evaluating the impact of this effect on absorbed and effective doses requires further research to determine the appropriateness of using personal protective equipment in computed tomography.