Objectives: The purpose of the study was to calculate the effective dose delivered to the patient undergoing cone beam (CB) CT of the jaws and maxillofacial complex using the i-CAT Next Generation CBCT scanner (Imaging Sciences International, Hatfield, PA).
Methods: A RANDO® phantom (The Phantom Laboratory, Salem, NY) containing thermoluminence dosemeters were scanned 10 times for each of the 6 imaging protocols. Effective doses for each protocol were calculated using the 1990 and approved 2007 International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) recommended tissue weighting factors (E1990, E2007).
Results: The effective dose for E1990 and E2007, respectively, were: full field of view (FOV) of the head, 47 μSv and 78 μSv; 13 cm scan of the jaws, 44 μSv and 77 μSv; 6 cm standard mandible, 35 μSv and 58 μSv; 6 cm high resolution mandible, 69 μSv and 113 μSv; 6 cm standard maxilla, 18 μSv and 32 μSv; and 6 cm high resolution maxilla, 35 μSv and 60 μSv.
Conclusions: Using the new generation of CBCT scanner, the effective dose is lower than the original generation machine for a similar FOV using the ICRP 2007 tissue weighting factors.