计算机断层扫描（CT）研究是大多数医学专业人士所需的，并在诊断和治疗患者方面发挥着至关重要的作用。因此，各个专业的医生都应该具备计算机断层扫描的基本知识、正确使用方法以及与之相关的辐射暴露。本文基于文献的选择性检索进行评估。每年德国进行大约1200万次CT检查，且数量逐渐增加。约9％的所有涉及电离辐射的诊断研究是CT研究。平均而言，医疗辐射暴露所导致的60％以上的集体有效剂量归因于CT。电离辐射引起的辐射效应有两种：随机效应和确定性效应。全身暴露在较低的单剂量电离辐射下，额外的相对寿命癌症死亡风险被估计为每西弗特5％。例如对于多伤患者的头部和躯干的CT扫描，在有效剂量约为20毫西弗特时，对于额外寿命期间癌症死亡风险的辐射暴露约为0.1％。随着CT的广泛应用，由此带来的辐射暴露和风险变得更加重要。技术进步、目标剂量监测和剂量数据分析可以帮助确定需要改进的领域，以实现降低患者辐射暴露而保持足够图像质量的终极目标。

Computed tomography (CT) studies are requested by specialists from most medical disciplines and play a vital role in the diagnosis and treatment of patients. It follows that physicians of all specialties should possess basic knowledge of computed tomography, its proper use, and the radiation exposure associated with it.This review is based on publications retrieved by a selective search of the literature.Approximately 12 million CT studies are carried out in Germany each year, and the trend is rising. Approximately 9% of all diagnostic studies involving ionizing radiation are CT studies. On average, more than 60% of the collective effective dose due to medical radiation exposure is attributable to CT. There are two types of radiation effects caused by ionizing radiation: stochastic and deterministic. The additional, individual relative lifetime cancer mortality risk due to ionizing radiation with whole-body exposure at a low single dose is estimated at 5% per sievert. Radiation exposure from CT studies of the head and trunk, e.g. of a patient with polytrauma, corresponds to an additional lifetime cancer mortality risk of approximately 0.1% at an effective dose of approximately 20 millisievert.The radiation exposure due to CT, and the risks to which patients are subjected by it, have become more important with greater use of CT. Technical advances, targeted dose monitoring, and analyses of dose data can help identify areas where improvement is necessary, in furtherance of the overriding goal of lowering patients' radiation exposure while preserving adequate image quality.