CT System's Ability to Reduce Radiation Dose Ideal for Pediatrics

Traditionally, when children are imaged using multi-detector CT technology, sedation is frequently required to keep the patient still long enough to obtain a clear diagnostic image. The system's fast exam time, which captures up to 16-cm of an anatomic region in one rotation, means that less patient sedation is required.

Helping to provide safer imaging for children in a hospital setting, Arkansas Children's Hospital (Little Rock, USA) is the first pediatric facility to install Toshiba Medical Systems, Inc.'s (Tokyo, Japan) Aquilion One 320-detector row CT system. As the world's first dynamic volume CT scanner, the system can lower radiation dose, which is particularly important when imaging pediatric patients.

The Aquilion One will be used to serve the facility's primarily pediatric patients in multiple settings, including cardiology, orthopedics, and neurology. The facility also plans to use the CT system in new dynamic studies focused on joint and respiratory issues and to develop new pediatric protocols to continue to increase pediatric safety in CT imaging.

"The ability to image pediatric patients with reduced radiation and no sedation will greatly benefit our patient community," said Dr. Bruce Greenberg, professor of radiology, Arkansas Children's Hospital, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences. "Technology like the Aquilion One continues to help us deliver the best possible care to patients while keeping patient safety at the forefront."

The Aquilion One features Toshiba's SUREExposure Pediatric software, which automatically measures the size and age of each patient and customizes radiation dose to achieve the best and safest image quality for each exam. The software uses protocols selected based upon the patient's size, age, and type of exam to ensure patients receive only the radiation required to obtain a clear diagnostic image. SUREExposure Pediatric software comes standard on all Aquilion products.

"The Aquilion One's ability to reduce radiation and capture images with significantly less pediatric sedation makes it an ideal addition to this facility," noted Doug Ryan, senior director, CT Business Unit, Toshiba. "Arkansas Children's Hospital is the first U.S. pediatric hospital to use the Aquilion One with advanced dynamic volume CT protocols that will continue to make imaging safer for all patients--especially children."

Introduced in November 2007, this system scans an entire organ in a single pass and produces four-dimensional (4D) videos that reveal an organ's structure, movement, and blood flow. In comparison, a 64-slice, 128-slice, or 256-slice CT scan can only capture a portion of an organ in a single pass, forcing physicians to "stitch together" multiple scans of an organ to get a full image. The new technology helps reduce multiple exposures to radiation and exam time.

The Aquilion One dynamic volume CT, utilizes 320 ultra-high resolution detector rows to image an entire organ in a single gantry rotation and shows dynamic function like blood flow.

Toshiba Medical Systems Corp., an independent group company of Toshiba Corp., is a global leading provider of diagnostic medical imaging systems and comprehensive medical systems.

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Arkansas Children's Hospital
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