Effect of wearing a brassiere during low‐dose chest CT for lung cancer screening

OBJECTIVE: To assess the impact of wearing a brassiere during low-dose chest CT (LDCT) examination on image quality and radiation dose. METHODS: A comparative study included 87 patients who underwent paired LDCT examinations at the Hospital from February 2022 to July 2024. Each patient underwent a standard LDCT (SLDCT) without a brassiere and a modified LDCT (MLDCT) with a brassiere. Objective image quality was assessed using the standard deviation (SD) in predefined lung regions. Three experienced radiologists compared the image quality subjectively. For comparison of radiation doses between the protocols, we used standard dose indicators including CTDIvol, DLP, and SSDE. Clinical data were collected between February 2022 and July 2024. RESULTS: Objectively, no statistically significant differences in SD or radiation dose were observed between MLDCT and SLDCT protocols. Median centering differences between paired scans were minimal (-8.8 mm), ensuring consistent comparisons. Subjective image quality was rated as equivalent or better for MLDCT in most cases, with a high level of interobserver agreement (95.4%). CONCLUSION: Wearing a brassiere during LDCT examinations caused no worsening of image quality or increase in radiation dose. It facilitates easier patient centering. These findings suggest that the modified protocol could be safely implemented in routine clinical practice. Further research could extend these observations to other chest imaging protocols.