Influence of Calculated Equivalent Doses and Effective Dose due to Differences in Software Version on Radiation Dose Management System

Abstract

Purpose: To verify the influence of the software version of the dose control system on the equivalent dose and effective dose calculation values. Methods: We performed chest CT and liver to pelvic CT imaging with a human phantom placed on a CT bed. After the imaging was completed, the radiation dose structured reports (RDSRs) generated by the equipment were transferred to several dose management systems with different software versions for equivalent dose and effective dose calculations. Results: The equivalent and effective doses calculated from the same RDSR differed depending on the software version of the dose management system with a difference of approximately 2 times for the effective dose and up to 50 times for the equivalent dose. Conclusion: It is considered that the voxel phantom geometry and dose calculation algorithm may differ depending on the software version of the dose management system. Careful attention should be paid in handling the dose calculation values because the exposure explanations and risk assessments using the equivalent doses, and effective dose calculated by the dose management systems may be overestimated.