Copyright: ©Author(s) 2026. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license. No commercial re-use. See permissions. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc.
Size-specific dose estimation in pediatric computed tomography: From dose characterization to individualized optimization
Tiao Chen, Department of Radiology, Hubei Cancer Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430079, Hubei Province, China
Author contributions: Tiao C conceived and designed the review, performed the literature search and screening, interpreted the relevant evidence, drafted the manuscript, revised the manuscript critically for important intellectual content, and approved the final version for submission, and agrees to be accountable for all aspects of the work.
AI contribution statement: Portions of this manuscript were edited using AI tools (ChatGPT) solely for language refinement. The authors carefully reviewed and verified all AI-assisted outputs and take full responsibility for the scientific content of the manuscript.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The author declares no conflict of interest.
Corresponding author: Tiao Chen, MD, Associate Chief Physician, Department of Radiology, Hubei Cancer Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, No. 116 Zhuodaoquan Road, Hongshan District, Wuhan 430079, Hubei Province, China. 15071051402@163.com
Received: June 26, 2026
Revised: July 17, 2026
Accepted: August 17, 2026
Published online: August 28, 2026
Processing time: 63 Days and 4.2 Hours
Revised: July 17, 2026
Accepted: August 17, 2026
Published online: August 28, 2026
Processing time: 63 Days and 4.2 Hours
Core Tip
Core Tip: Pediatric computed tomography (CT) dose assessment should move beyond scanner-output indices toward patient-size-adapted optimization. This review highlights size-specific dose estimate (SSDE) as a practical bridging metric linking volume CT dose index correction, pediatric body-size variation, water-equivalent diameter, head-specific dose estimation, organ-dose approximation, diagnostic reference levels, and task-based image-quality optimization. By integrating SSDE with automated size extraction, organ-dose modeling, and clinical indication-specific protocols, pediatric CT dose manage