27 September 2023

CT scan radiation levels reduced

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The Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency (ARPANSA) has released new figures that show Australians are receiving far lower doses of radiation in computed tomography (CT) scans than they were a decade ago.

Director Medical Imaging at ARPANSA, Peter Thomas said the radiation dose from a CT scan, while low, was nonetheless assumed to contribute a small additional risk to a patient’s lifetime risk of cancer.

“International guidelines are in place to keep radiation dose as low as possible,” Dr Thomas said.

“ARPANSA collects and reviews data on patient dose from CT scans to produce diagnostic reference levels (DRLs) showing typical doses from scans,” he said.

“ARPANSA also advises medical facilities on how their practice compares, to encourage best practice in radiation safety.”

He said that in 2018, ARPANSA analysed data from more than 47,000 CT scans at 381 facilities around Australia.

“The data shows that, on average, patients are receiving much lower doses from CTs than we saw five-to-10 years ago,” Dr Thomas said.

“Average dose has decreased by around 15 to 20 per cent since the original DRLs were published.”

He said if a facility found that patient doses were consistently above the reference levels, it was required to investigate if the higher dose was justified.

“Conversely, if patients are receiving doses well below the reference levels, the facility may need to review image quality to ensure procedures are effective,” Dr Thomas said.

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