Objective To investigate the radiation dose of body surface at sensitive organs using different protective precaution in head CT scanning. Methods The standard phantom received head routine sequence scanning with dual-source computed tomography. The phantoms were scanned with three different protective precaution: group A (without protective clothing), group B (wearing lead collar and cover lead clothes), group C (wearing lead collar and clothes without cuffs). The thermoluminescence dosimeters (TLD) was placed on the body surface corresponding to sensitive organs to measure radiation dose. Results The volume of CT dose index (CTDIvol) and dose length product (DLP) in group A, B and C were same, 44.06 mGy and 634 mGy·cm, respectively. There was no statistic significant difference between group A, B and C of radiation dose in non-protective region (P=0.712). The radiation dose in the neck region under the cover of lead collar in group A, B and C were (2.57 ± 0.65) mGy, (2.30 ± 1.10) mGy and (2.48 ± 0.90) mGy, respectively, without statistic significant difference between groups (P=0.816). However, the radiation dose in abdominal region of group A was (0.66±0.37) mGy, which was significantly higher than that of group B 〔(0.18 ± 0.18) mGy〕 and group C 〔(0.18±0.16) mGy〕, The radiation dose in dorsal region of group A was (0.55±0.43) mGy, which was significantly higher than that of group B 〔(0.28±0.22) mGy〕, while that of group C 〔(0.14±0.12) mGy〕 was significantly lower than group B. Conclusion Compared to traditional lead coverage, lead collar and cloth can decrease the radiation dose of body surface and sensitive organs in head scan with dual source CT.
