{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,28]],"date-time":"2026-09-28T14:57:16Z","timestamp":1790607436732,"version":"4.1.0"},"reference-count":40,"publisher":"AOSIS","issue":"1","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2024,10,31]],"date-time":"2024-10-31T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1730332800000},"content-version":"unspecified","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":[],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background:\u00a0In CT, the volumetric CT dose index (CTDIvol), dose-length product (DLP) and patient\u2019s size-specific dose estimates (SSDE) are used as diagnostic reference level (DRL) metrics.\n\nObjectives:\u00a0To develop clinical local DRL values for CT chest-abdomen-pelvis (CAP) examinations using the CTDIvol, DLP and SSDE, and to determine the image quality achieved.\n\nMethod:\u00a0In total, 201 cancer patients were included in the study. The scanning parameters, dose metrics from the CT unit and participants\u2019 body mass index (BMI) were documented. The local CT DRL values for CAP examinations were defined as the median and 75th percentiles of the dose distribution.\n\nResults:\u00a0The local DRL values given in terms of median CTDIvol\u00a0ranged between 8.4 mGy and 12.7 mGy for the different types of cancers. The median DLPs ranged from 848 to 1173.4 mGy.cm for the various cancers. Generally, the radiation dose was directly proportional to the BMI and number of scan phases. Significant differences were observed between the DRLs for the various size-related parameters, number of scan phases and BMI classifications. The image quality was clinically satisfactory.\n\nConclusion:\u00a0No baseline data for clinical DRL values were available for this medical oncology department. The achieved DRLs were similar to published size-specific DRLs. The image quality was maintained during CT imaging. Dose optimisation and image quality assessment should be implemented to ensure optimal scanning parameters for different cancers in CT CAP examinations.\n\nContribution:\u00a0The first size-specific local DRL values for CT CAP investigations carried out on oncology patients in South Africa have been established.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.4102\/sajr.v28i1.2960","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2024,10,31]],"date-time":"2024-10-31T08:55:04Z","timestamp":1730364904000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.4102\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":2,"title":["Clinical diagnostic reference levels and image quality metrics for CT in oncology patients"],"prefix":"10.4102","volume":"28","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-4362-1216","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ida-Keshia","family":"Sebelego","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/033z08192","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}],"name":"Central University of Technology"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-7248-8306","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Sussan","family":"Acho","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/009xwd568","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}],"name":"University of the Free State"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3866-8562","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"William I.D.","family":"Rae","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/009xwd568","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}],"name":"University of the Free State"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"2580","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2024,10,31]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref0","unstructured":"International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP). 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