Precision in Practice: Clinical Indication-Specific DRLs for Head CT for Advanced Personalised Dose Benchmarking
Abstract
1. Introduction
2. Materials and Methods
2.1. Study Design and Data Collection
2.2. CT Equipment
2.3. Protocol Parameters Based on Clinical Indications
2.4. Data Analysis
3. Results
3.1. Demographic and Clinical Indication Profile of CT Head Patients
3.2. Radiation Dose Parameters by Clinical Indication for CT Head Examinations
3.3. Correlation Analysis Between Patient and Dose Parameters
4. Discussion
5. Limitations
6. Conclusions
7. Recommendations
Author Contributions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Data Availability Statement
Acknowledgments
Conflicts of Interest
Abbreviations
AEC | Automatic Exposure Control |
ALARA | As Low As Reasonably Achievable |
BMI | Body Mass Index |
CTA | CT Angiography |
CT | Computed Tomography |
CTDIvol | Computed Tomography Dose Index Volume |
DLP | Dose–Length Product |
DRL | Diagnostic Reference Level |
DRLCI | Diagnostic Reference Level based on Clinical Indication |
EUCLID | European Study on Clinical Diagnostic Reference Levels |
FOV | Field of View |
GE | General Electric (as in GE Healthcare) |
ICRP | International Commission on Radiological Protection |
NDRL | National Diagnostic Reference Level |
PACS | Picture Archiving and Communication System |
RIS | Radiology Information System |
SD | Standard Deviation |
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Parameter | Head |
---|---|
Scan Type | Helical |
Detector Rows | 32 |
Pitch | 0.531 |
Rotation Time (s) | 0.5 |
Kilo Volt (kV) | 120 |
Automatic Exposure Control Type | Smart mA |
Milliampere (mA) Range (Manual mA) | 130–440 (210) |
Slice Thickness (mm) /Interval (mm) | 5/5 |
Scanning Length (mm) | 140–180 |
Category | Variable | n (%) |
---|---|---|
Gender | Female | 168 (44.4%) |
Male | 210 (55.6%) | |
BMI Range | Healthy Weight (BMI * 18.5–24.9) | 155 (41.0) |
Overweight (BMI 25–29.9) | 179 (47.4) | |
Obesity (BMI ≥ 30) | 44 (11.6) | |
Indications | Trauma | 102 (27.0) |
Headache | 99 (26.2) | |
Stroke | 99 (26.2) | |
Seizure | 43 (11.4) | |
Infection | 35 (9.3) |
Clinical Indication | Dose | Mean ± SD | 75 Percentile |
---|---|---|---|
Headache | CTDI vol | 51.26 ± 5.36 | 54.07 |
DLP | 1078.32 ± 176.24 | 1205.78 | |
Infection | CTDI vol | 52.90 ± 5.57 | 54.15 |
DLP | 1142.97 ± 127.71 | 1219.98 | |
Seizure | CTDI vol | 51.88 ± 6.10 | 54.13 |
DLP | 1099.97 ± 185.07 | 1212.66 | |
Stroke | CTDI vol | 50.65 ± 5.28 | 54.07 |
DLP | 1065.02 ± 194.73 | 1205.78 | |
Trauma | CTDI vol | 50.58 ± 5.59 | 54.06 |
DLP | 1052.52 ± 194.09 | 1205.74 |
Clinical Indication | Study | CTDIvol (mGy) | DLP (mGy·cm) |
---|---|---|---|
Stroke | European Survey | 48 | 1386 |
Nigeria | 43 | 879 | |
Bahrain | 66 | 1152 | |
Current Study | 54.07 | 1205.78 | |
Trauma | Nigeria | 43 | 907 |
Qatar | 51 | 1820 | |
Bahrain | 66 | 1286 | |
Current Study | 54.06 | 1205.74 | |
Seizure | Nigeria | 28 | 995 |
Current Study | 54.13 | 1212.66 | |
Infection | Nigeria | 34 | 969 |
Current Study | 54.15 | 1219.98 | |
Headache | Bahrain | 67 | 1206 |
Current Study | 54.07 | 1205.78 |
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Almuqbil, N.; Hamd, Z.Y.; Elshami, W.; Abuzaid, M. Precision in Practice: Clinical Indication-Specific DRLs for Head CT for Advanced Personalised Dose Benchmarking. Diagnostics 2025, 15, 1849. https://doi.org/10.3390/diagnostics15151849
Almuqbil N, Hamd ZY, Elshami W, Abuzaid M. Precision in Practice: Clinical Indication-Specific DRLs for Head CT for Advanced Personalised Dose Benchmarking. Diagnostics. 2025; 15(15):1849. https://doi.org/10.3390/diagnostics15151849
Chicago/Turabian StyleAlmuqbil, Nora, Zuhal Y. Hamd, Wiam Elshami, and Mohamed Abuzaid. 2025. "Precision in Practice: Clinical Indication-Specific DRLs for Head CT for Advanced Personalised Dose Benchmarking" Diagnostics 15, no. 15: 1849. https://doi.org/10.3390/diagnostics15151849
APA StyleAlmuqbil, N., Hamd, Z. Y., Elshami, W., & Abuzaid, M. (2025). Precision in Practice: Clinical Indication-Specific DRLs for Head CT for Advanced Personalised Dose Benchmarking. Diagnostics, 15(15), 1849. https://doi.org/10.3390/diagnostics15151849