A new study published in Spine examines the CT radiation dose during robotic-assisted pediatric spine surgery.
The study authors developed a low-dose protocol using photon scans and conducted the study on patients who underwent robotic-assisted spine surgery. The CT scans are taken preoperatively for surgical planning with the navigation software.
Here are five findings from the study:
1. The CT radiation dose decreased 84 percent to 91 percent with the low-dose protocol, depending on the patient's size and whether the scan was taken before or after surgery.
2. The scans were all still compatible with the navigation software, even with the low-dose protocol using phantom scans.
3. Researchers reported the image quality was similar between patients who underwent the low-dose scans and those that followed standard protocol.
4. Pediatric patients are highly radiosensitive and the low-dose protocol could provide a solution for patients who require spinal surgery.
5. The study authors concluded, "Task-based CT protocol optimization can produce acceptable image quality with dose comparable to standard two-view radiography."