Experience with the use of a dose management system in the everyday routine of a CT department. A touchstone or a millstone

Abstract

Purpose: A dose tracking software was recently installed in our CT department. The study aimed at evaluating the software capabilities and staff performance in every day routine. Material and Methods: A dose tracking software was connected to a 64-slice CT scanner. All technical and dosimetric data of 6,010 CT examinations were analysed. Organ doses estimated by the software were also evaluated. Results: The software provided easy and quick statistical overview of clinical and technical data. Typical local doses were comparable to national and international data. Organ doses proved to be an instrumental and supportive tool in individualised patient dosimetry. Conclusions : The software offered easy and quick statistical overview of all CT clinical and technical data and a valuable overview of workload statistics, which occasionally required discussion with the staff and, in some cases, corrective actions. It easily provided the time periods the scanner was not in use, and facilitated easy scheduling of routine quality control tests and other routine tasks in the department. A number of errors were identified and communicated to the staff; corrective actions were taken.