Abstract
The American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM) is a nonprofit professional society whose primary purposes are to advance the science, education and professional practice of medical physics. The AAPM has more than 8000 members and is the principal organization of medical physicists in the United States. The AAPM will periodically define new practice guidelines for medical physics practice to help advance the science of medical physics and to improve the quality of service to patients throughout the United States. Existing medical physics practice guidelines will be reviewed for the purpose of revision or renewal, as appropriate, on their fifth anniversary or sooner. Each medical physics practice guideline represents a policy statement by the AAPM, has undergone a thorough consensus process in which it has been subjected to extensive review, and requires the approval of the Professional Council. The medical physics practice guidelines recognize that the safe and effective use of diagnostic and therapeutic radiology requires specific training, skills, and techniques, as described in each document. Reproduction or modification of the published practice guidelines and technical standards by those entities not providing these services is not authorized. The following terms are used in the AAPM practice guidelines: (a) Must and Must Not: Used to indicate that adherence to the recommendation is considered necessary to conform to this practice guideline. (b) Should and Should Not: Used to indicate a prudent practice to which exceptions may occasionally be made in appropriate circumstances.
Highlights
The review and management of computed tomography (CT) protocols are a facility’s ongoing mechanism of ensuring that exams being performed achieve the desired diagnostic image quality while optimizing radiation dose and properly exploiting the capabilities of the equipment being used
While several states require accreditation that calls upon these activities, the activities themselves have been explicitly identified as essential by one state,[1] regulatory and accreditation groups such as the American College of Radiology (ACR) CT Accreditation program and Intersocietal Accreditation Commission (IAC),[2,3,4] as well as the Joint Commission in its
The Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM) considers these activities to be essential to any quality assurance (QA) program for CT, and as an ongoing investment in improved quality of patient care
Summary
The review and management of computed tomography (CT) protocols are a facility’s ongoing mechanism of ensuring that exams being performed achieve the desired diagnostic image quality while optimizing radiation dose and properly exploiting the capabilities of the equipment being used. F Acquisition parameters including kV, mA, rotation time, collimation or detector configuration, pitch, etc., should be reviewed to ensure they are appropriate for the diagnostic image quality (noise level, spatial resolution, etc.) necessary for the clinical indication(s) for the protocol, while optimizing radiation dose. The Alert Value should be established during the scanner acceptance process by the protocol review and management team.[26] ii A second type of radiation dose management tool may be used to retrospectively monitor dose metrics from clinical exams.[28] Statistical analysis of dose parameter values for a specific exam or clinical indication (e.g., average CTDIvol for a routine noncontrast head) can be provided. I Acquisition and reconstruction parameters, ii Image quality, and iii Radiation dose
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