Effective dose of cone beam CT (CBCT) of the facial skeleton: a systematic review

Objective:To estimate effective dose of cone beam CT (CBCT) of the facial skeleton with focus on measurement methods and scanning protocols.Methods:A systematic review, which adhered to the preferred reporting items for systematic reviews (PRISMA) Statement, of the literature up to April 2014 was conducted. Data sources included MEDLINE®, The Cochrane Library and Web of Science. A model was developed to underpin data extraction from 38 included studies.Results:Technical specifications of the CBCT units were insufficiently described. Heterogeneity in measurement methods and scanning protocols between studies made comparisons of effective doses of different CBCT units and scanning protocols difficult. Few studies related doses to image quality. Reported effective dose varied across studies, ranging between 9.7 and 197.0 μSv for field of views (FOVs) with height ≤5 cm, between 3.9 and 674.0 μSv for FOVs of heights 5.1–10.0 cm and between 8.8 and 1073.0 μSv for FOVs >10 cm. There was an inconsistency regardin...