OPTIMISATION OF LOW DOSE COMPUTED TOMOGRAPHY PROTOCOL FOR DIAGNOSTICS OF DEVELOPMENTAL DYSPLASIA OF THE HIP USING A PHANTOM BASED NOISE SIMULATION APPROACH

Optimization of a low dose computed tomography protocol was performed, using a phantom based noise simulation technique. Using this approach, a number of low dose scan image sets were simulated and evaluated, in order to determine the lowest scanning parameters at which the evaluation of the developmental dysplasia of the hip (DDH) pathology was still possible. It was determined, that it is possible to significantly reduce the exposure and consequently the dose to pediatric patients, while still maintaining diagnostic accuracy needed for DDH cases.