Dose determination and verification of a small-animal spiral micro computed tomography system for preclinical in vivo imaging

The radiation dose delivered to an animal during a cone-beam shaped micro-Computed Tomography (micro-CT) is not negligible and might contribute to animal discomfort, as well as lead to undesired biological effects. Especially in cancer research high doses of ionizing radiation may interfere with the respective study objectives and alter the experimental outcome [1]. The aim of this study was to verify the estimated calculated dose values given by the vendor of a newly implemented micro-CT for further preclinical in vivo imaging.