Quality Control and Optimization of Computed Tomography Dose Index Volume (CTDI<sub>vol</sub>) of LightSpeed RT16 Xtra CT Scanner

Dose estimation and quality control in computed tomography (CT) scanners are useful in controlling the dose of radiation given to patients while tests are carried out. The study was performed in a 16-slice Computed Tomography (CT) system of LightSpeed RT16 Xtra CT scanner. Quality control was done using a vendor-provided QA Phantom, and the six aspects of image quality were measured. For CT dosimetry, Computed Tomography Dose index volume (CTDIvol) was performed using Computed Tomography Dose Index (CTDI) Phantom. CTDI Phantom consists of three parts: Pediatric Head, Adult Head, and Adult Body Phantom. A 10 cm long pencil ion chamber DCT-10 was used to measure the dose at different positions inside the CTDI Phantom. Data were collected using MagicMax Universal software. For dose estimation of the CTDIvol Report of AAPM Task Group, 96 and 111 formalisms were used. For Pediatric Head, Adult Head, and Adult Body Phantom the measured CIDIvol was 61.04 mGy, 48.11 mGy, and 18.08 mGy respectively. The study has shown deviations of 7%, 15%, and 19% between estimated and console-displayed doses for Pediatric Head, Adult Head, and Adult Body scan techniques respectively. The six aspects of image quality measured by QA Phantom were found to be compatible with the specifications of the machine and CTDIvol measured by CTDI Phantom were found within a tolerance limit of ±20%. Hence, the QC and dosimetry of the mentioned machine are within the limit.