An evaluation of SAFIRE’s potential to reduce the dose received by paediatric patients undergoing CT: a narrative review
Year: 2015
Type: review
Abstract: Introduction: The purpose of this review is to gather and analyse current research publications to\nevaluate Sinogram-Affirmed Iterative Reconstruction (SAFIRE). The aim of this review is to investigate\nwhether this algorithm is capable of reducing the dose delivered during CT imaging while maintaining\nimage quality. Recent research shows that children have a greater risk per unit dose due to increased\nradiosensitivity and longer life expectancies, which means it is particularly important to reduce the\nradiation dose received by children.\nDiscussion: Recent publications suggest that SAFIRE is capable of reducing image noise in CT images,\nthereby enabling the potential to reduce dose. Some publications suggest a decrease in dose, by up to\n64% compared to filtered back projection, can be accomplished without a change in image quality.\nHowever, literature suggests that using a higher SAFIRE strength may alter the image texture, creating\nan overly ‘smoothed’ image that lacks contrast. Some literature reports SAFIRE gives decreased low\ncontrast detectability as well as spatial resolution. Publications tend to agree that SAFIRE strength three\nis optimal for an acceptable level of visual image quality, but more research is required. The importance\nof creating a balance between dose reduction and image quality is stressed. In this literature review\nmost of the publications were completed using adults or phantoms, and a distinct lack of literature for\npaediatric patients is noted.\nConclusion: It is necessary to find an optimal way to balance dose reduction and image quality. More\nresearch relating to SAFIRE and paediatric patients is required to fully investigate dose reduction\npotential in this population, for a range of different SAFIRE strengths.
Language: English
Topic: Radiation Dose and Imaging
Subfield: Radiology, Nuclear Medicine and Imaging
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: green
Funder: Nuffield Foundation
OpenAlex ID: W225888455