Purpose: To examine the results of two draft surveys conducted by ARPANSA of Multi Detector Computed Tomography (MDCT) doses in Australia.
Methods: ARPANSA has conducted two draft surveys on MDCT doses in Australia over the past 18 months. Information requested related to seven scan protocols - Head, Cervical Spine, Chest, Chest-Abdo, Abdo-Pelvis, Lumbar Spine and Chest-Abdo-Pelvis. For each protocol we asked for data on 20 patients which included the Dose Length Product (DLP), patient weight, patient height and patient width. We also requested general information on the machine settings used, machine make and model and basic contact information for the practice.
Results: For the first survey we approached 15 practices and received 11 data sets. For the second survey we approached 34 practices and received 31 data sets. Poor returns for the Chest-Abdo protocol in the first survey lead to its removal from the second survey. From each survey we calcuated a Diagnostic Reference Level (DRL) value for each protocol which represented the 75^th percentile of the spread of the median DLPs for each participating practice. The results of the two surveys and some European DRLs are shown in the following table.
Conclusions: The two draft surveys conducted by ARPANSA in the past 18 months have enabled fine tuning of the National MDCT dose survey to be launched in early 2011. Results from the two draft surveys indicate that Australian MDCT doses are on average higher than those in European Countries.