Purpose

Cone-beam CT dacryocystography (CBCT-DCG) is a newly developed lacrimal passage imaging technique. This pilot study aimed to determine the effect of reducing tube current on image quality and radiation dose of CBCT-DCG in healthy volunteers.

Materials and methods

Thirty volunteers were randomly divided into three groups of ten. Each group of subjects underwent CBCT-DCG using a tube current of 13 mA, 10 mA, and 7 mA respectively. The image quality of CBCT-DCG was assessed independently by two observers using three different scoring methods and compared among the groups. The effective dose was estimated and compared among the three different tube current groups.

Results

The CBCT-DCG images provided a high spatial and contrast resolution of the bony structures and the contrast medium. No significant differences were found in the image quality between different tube current groups. Compared with the 13 mA group (49.44 μSv), the effective dose for 10 mA group (38.40 μSv) and 7 mA group (27.12 μSv) decreased by 22.33% and 45.15%, respectively.

Conclusion

By decreasing the tube current, CBCT-DCG can be performed with a significant reduction of effective dose without loss of image quality in healthy volunteers.

中文翻译：

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通过降低管电流在健康志愿者中减少锥束CT泪囊造影剂量的潜力

目的

锥束CT泪囊造影（CBCT-DCG）是一种新开发的泪道成像技术。这项初步研究旨在确定在健康志愿者中降低管电流对CBCT-DCG图像质量和辐射剂量的影响。

材料和方法

30名志愿者被随机分为三组，每组十人。每组受试者分别使用13 mA，10 mA和7 mA的管电流进行CBCT-DCG。两名观察员使用三种不同的评分方法分别评估了CBCT-DCG的图像质量，并在各组之间进行了比较。估算了有效剂量，并在三个不同的电流组之间进行了比较。

结果

CBCT-DCG图像提供了骨结构和造影剂的高空间分辨率和对比度分辨率。不同管电流组之间的图像质量没有发现显着差异。与13 mA组（49.44μSv）相比，10 mA组（38.40μSv）和7 mA组（27.12μSv）的有效剂量分别降低了22.33％和45.15％。

结论

通过降低管电流，可以在健康志愿者中有效降低剂量的情况下进行CBCT-DCG，而不会降低图像质量。