MGH Customizes CT Radiation Doses via 'Virtual Autopsy'

Progress in reducing doses has been rapid. "A few years ago, a CT scan would be about 20-30 millisieverts," he says. "Today, if you were to come to most departments with the next generation of equipment, you'd get maybe two-to three, a factor of 10 reduction. That's the kind of progress we're making," he says.

Plans are underway to use various manufacturers' scanning technology to refine the effort, to customize it even further for various parts of the body, for a variety of brands of equipment.

In a statement announcing the new protocols, Dushyant V. Sahani, MD, director of CT Imaging at MGH, noted that "CT dose is a moving target, so we will continue to invest in new technology, research, and education to meet our obligations to our patients."

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