Effectiveness of the air-gap method for reducing radiation dose in neonate CT examinations

The air-gap method is a technique employed to control dose distribution and radiation scattering in medical imaging. By introducing a layer of air between the radiation source and the object, this method effectively reduces the impact of scattered radiation. The purpose of this study was to investigate the suitability of the air-gap method for radiation dose reduction in pediatric patients during computed tomography (CT) examinations. Only one type of neonate phantom is used with 64 detector-row CT scanner while helical scanning the chest. The distance between the CT table and the subject was 0 mm at the conventional method and 150 mm at the air-gap method. The values of the real-time skin dosimeter on the dorsal surface of the body, and on the left and right mammary glands and image noise are measured and compared for each method. Compared with the conventional method, it was possible to reduce the exposure dose and image noise by approximately 10% and 15%, respectively, using the air-gap method (p < 0.05). The air-gap method was useful for reducing the radiation dose during pediatric CT examinations compared with the conventional method.