Comparison of the Breast Dose based on the Existence of the Bismuth Breast Protection Shield for Automatic Exposure Control and Manual Exposure Control with the Coronary Artery CT Angiography

Abstract

The effective dose and the organ absorbed dose, which are given to a breast in the cases of using and not using the bismuth breast protection shield for the protection of a breast with the coronary artery CT angiography, have been measured and compared for the manual exposure control (MEC)and the automatic exposure control (AEC). In the cases of using and not using the bismuth breast protection shield, it has been found that the measured dose shows the reduction of about 23 to 26% for the MEC and about 22 to 25% for the AEC when the shield is used compared to the case of not using it. By comparing the shield and non-shield cases for the AEC and the MEC, it can be said that the value measured by carrying out the scanning process with the AEC mode has decreased by about 24 to 30% compared to the case of applying the MEC mode. Such a result shows that it is recommended to use the AEC mode for the reduction of the patient’s exposure dose during the CT examination.