Strategies for reducing radiation exposure from multidetector computed tomography in the acute care setting.

Many tools and strategies exist to enable reduction of radiation exposure from computed tomography (CT). The common CT metrics of x-ray output, the volume CT dose index and the dose-length product, are explained and serve as the basis for monitoring radiation exposure from CT. Many strategies to dose-optimize CT protocols are explored that, in combination with available hardware and software tools, allow robust diagnostic quality CT to be performed with a radiation exposure appropriate for the clinical scenario and the size of the patient. Specific emergency department example protocols are used to demonstrate these techniques.