Pediatric interventional radiology and dose-reduction techniques

Abstract

The pediatric interventional radiology community has worked diligently in recent years through education and the use of technology to incorporate numerous dose-reduction strategies. This article seeks to describe different strategies where we can significantly lower the dose to the pediatric patient undergoing a diagnostic or therapeutic image-guided procedure and, subsequently, lower the dose several fold to the staff and ourselves in the process. These strategies start with patient selection, dose awareness and monitoring, shielding, fluoroscopic techniques, and collimation. Advanced features such as cone-beam technology, dose-reduction image processing algorithms, overlay road mapping, and volumetric cross-sectional hybrid imaging are also discussed.