Multidetector CT angiography (CTA) has become a widely accepted examination for non-invasive evaluation of the heart and coronary arteries. Despite its ongoing success and worldwide clinical implementation, it remains an often-challenging procedure in which image quality, and hence diagnostic value, is determined by both technical and patient-related factors. Thorough knowledge of these factors is important to obtain high-quality examinations. In this review, we discuss several key elements that may adversely affect coronary CTA image quality as well as potential measures that can be taken to mitigate their impact. In addition, several recent vendor-specific advances and future directions to improve image quality are discussed.

It is known that medical applications using ionising radiation are wide spread and still increasing. Physicians, technicians, nurses and others constitute the largest group of workers occupationally exposed to man-made sources of radiation. Many hospital workers are consequently subjected to routine monitoring of professional radiation exposures. in the university hospital, UZ Brussel, 600 out of 4000 staff members are daily monitored for external radiation exposures. The most obvious applications of ionising radiation are diagnostic radiology, diagnostic or therapeutic use of radionuclides in nuclear medicine and external radiation therapy or brachytherapy in radiotherapy departments. Other important applications also include various procedures in interventional radiology (IR), in vitro biomedical research and radiopharmaceutical production around cyclotrons. Besides the fact that many of the staff members, involved in these applications, are not measurably exposed, detailed studies were carried out at workplaces where routine dose monitoring encounters difficulties and for some applications where relatively high occupational exposures can be found. most of the studies are concentrated around nuclear medicine applications and IR. They contain assessments of both effective dose and doses at different parts of the body. The results contribute to better characterisation of the different workplaces in a way that critical applications can be identified. Moreover, conclusions point out future needs for practical routine dose monitoring and optimisation of radiation protection.

Despite a number of efforts being put into the radiological protection of both patient and staff during interventional radiological (IR) procedures during recent years, information about radiation exposure during endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) procedures remains scarce. The purpose of this study was to estimate both patient and staff radiation doses during therapeutic ERCP procedures by direct measurement and to compare these results with data from other IR procedures. For 54 patients, effective dose and skin dose were estimated by measuring the dose–area product. For staff, entrance surface doses to the lens of the eye, thyroid and hands were estimated by thermoluminescent dosemeters. A median effective dose of 7.3 mSv and a median entrance surface dose of 271 mGy per procedure were estimated for patients. The gastroenterologist received a median dose of 0.34 mGy to the lens of the eye, 0.30 mGy to the skin at the level of the thyroid and 0.44 mGy to the skin of the hands, per proc...

We evaluated examination protocols used for common CT procedures of paediatric patients at different hospitals in Belgium in order to determine whether adjustments related to patient size are made in scanning parameters, and to compare patient doses with proposed reference levels. Three paediatric hospitals and one non-paediatric hospital participated in the study. Weighted CT dose-index (CTDIw), dose–length product (DLP) and effective dose (E) were evaluated for three patient ages (1 year, 5 years and 10 years) and three common procedures (brain, thorax and abdomen). CTDIw and DLP values higher than the reference levels were found for all types of evaluated examination. E ranged from 0.4 mSv to 2.3 mSv, 1.1 mSv to 6.6 mSv, and 2.3 mSv to 19.9 mSv for brain, thorax and abdomen examinations, respectively. All centres but one adapted their protocols as a function of patient size. However, no common trend in the selection of protocols was observed. Some centres divided the whole range of patient size into on...