Dosimetry in phantom of newborn head for computerized tomography signs with voltages of 80, 100 and 120 KV

Computed Tomography is the radiodiagnostic method that most contributes to the dose deposition in population. Therefore, the dose reductions used in these tests are very important, especially for pediatric patients who have a life expectancy greater than the rest of the population. This study purpose to compare the doses generated from newborns (NB) with different voltages in a 64-channel multichannel CT equipment of the GE brand. One head phantom in a cylindrical shape made in PMMA were used to newborn patient dimensions. 100 mA.s of charge of the X-ray tube were standardized, alternating the voltages between 80, 100, 120 kV in the axial acquisition. The absorbed dose measurements were performed with a pencil-type ionization chamber positioned within the five apertures in the phantom. The phantom was developed with the cephalic percentile of male NB of 14 and female of 28 days, respectively. The doses obtained in the head phantom of NB were compared with the voltages of 80, 100 and 120 kV. The volumetric dose index, C_VOL, generated in the 120 kV protocol was 25.10 mGy, for 100 kV of 19,06 mGy and not for 80 kV 15,81 mGy. The results allow to evaluate that for the generation of images with 120 kV, the dose was 37.0% higher when compared to the voltage of 80 kV. The study shows that the increase in tension in the tomography protocols also makes it possible to increase the dose for the NB patient. (author)