Methods and systems for computed tomography

A method for automatic exposure control, comprising:

• deriving a level of exposure of an x-ray source of a CT imaging system for a diagnostic scan using patient information and information of an anatomical region being scanned;
• predicting an image quality of the diagnostic scan based on the level of exposure;
• receiving a user-prescribed desired dose target entered by a user via a user interface operably coupled to the CT imaging system;
• adjusting the predicted image quality based on the desired dose target;
• and
• adjusting the level of exposure based on the adjusted predicted image quality.

A system, comprising:

• an x-ray source that emits a beam of x-rays toward an object to be imaged;
• an automatic exposure control (AEC) module operably connected to the source;
• and
• a processor operably coupled to the AEC module and configured with instructions in non-transitory memory that when executed cause the processor to:
• receive a dose input from a user via a user interface communicatively coupled to the AEC module;
• look up a first x-ray tube exposure based on the dose input;
• and
• predict a second x-ray tube exposure based on one or more of a clinical range selection, an object size, an object shape, and a water-equivalent diameter.