Increasing the pitch in a CT scan reduces patient what?

Increasing the pitch in a CT scan directly impacts the patient’s exposure. Pitch is defined as the distance the tabletop moves per rotation of the x-ray tube divided by the width of the x-ray beam. When the pitch is increased, the scanning system covers more distance with each rotation, which means that the x-ray tube is active for a shorter duration per unit distance.

This reduction in the time that the x-ray tube is actively producing radiation leads to less cumulative radiation exposure to the patient, effectively lowering their exposure during the scan. Therefore, a higher pitch tends to result in a quicker acquisition of data, which reduces the overall radiation exposure necessary to achieve the desired diagnostic images.

It is important to note that while increasing pitch can reduce exposure, it can also have potential trade-offs with image quality, as higher pitch values may lead to decreased image resolution since fewer data points are collected for reconstruction.