Radiation dose estimates based on Monte Carlo simulation for spiral breast computed tomography imaging in a large cohort of patients.

Background: Spiral breast computed tomography (BCT) equipped with a photon-counting detector (PCD) is a new radiological modality allowing for the compression-free acquisition of high-resolution 3-D datasets of the breast. Optimized dose exposu04170/re setups according to breast size were previously proposed but could not effectively be applied in a clinical environment due to ambiguity in measuring breast size.

Purpose: This study aims to report the standard radiation dose values in a large cohort of patients examined with BCT, and to provide a mathematical model to estimate radiation dose based on morphological features of the breast.