Dose evaluation and effective dose estimation from CT fluoroscopy-guided lung biopsy.

The development of computerized tomography (CT) has made CT fluoroscopy possible with real-time CT images. However examination are expected to have high medical and occupational exposures. Then, exposures to patients and operating and assisting physicians during the CT fluoroscopy-guided lung biopsy were estimated. And changes in the examination conditions to lower the dose were made. Patient exposure was measured using an anthropomorphic phantom by simulation of clinical examination conditions. The surface dose to the physician was measured during actual clinical examinations. The average effective dose for the patient was 34+/-22mSv. The highest surface dose amounted to 1.9 Gy, although this was in a very narrow field. Patient doses could be reduced by a factor of 2.5-3 by changing examination methods while still retaining diagnostic quality. The highest dose to the operating physician was 10mGy which was recorded on the back of the hand and the average effective dose was estimated as 5.99&mgr;Sv per 1-minute examination. Doses were reduced by about a factor of 50 by lowering the tube voltage from 120kV to 80 kV and using a supplementary tool. The doses for assisting physicians were not significant. The exposure for physicians and patients was much affected by lowering the tube voltage used for fluoroscopy. Using a supplementary tool was effective for reducing the dose for physicians.