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Meloni A, Maffei E, Clemente A, De Gori C, Occhipinti M, Positano V, Berti S, La Grutta L, Saba L, Cau R, Bossone E, Mantini C, Cavaliere C, Punzo B, Celi S, Cademartiri F. Spectral Photon-Counting Computed Tomography: Technical Principles and Applications in the Assessment of Cardiovascular Diseases. J Clin Med 2024; 13:2359. [PMID: 38673632 PMCID: PMC11051476 DOI: 10.3390/jcm13082359] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/16/2024] [Revised: 04/15/2024] [Accepted: 04/16/2024] [Indexed: 04/28/2024] Open
Abstract
Spectral Photon-Counting Computed Tomography (SPCCT) represents a groundbreaking advancement in X-ray imaging technology. The core innovation of SPCCT lies in its photon-counting detectors, which can count the exact number of incoming x-ray photons and individually measure their energy. The first part of this review summarizes the key elements of SPCCT technology, such as energy binning, energy weighting, and material decomposition. Its energy-discriminating ability represents the key to the increase in the contrast between different tissues, the elimination of the electronic noise, and the correction of beam-hardening artifacts. Material decomposition provides valuable insights into specific elements' composition, concentration, and distribution. The capability of SPCCT to operate in three or more energy regimes allows for the differentiation of several contrast agents, facilitating quantitative assessments of elements with specific energy thresholds within the diagnostic energy range. The second part of this review provides a brief overview of the applications of SPCCT in the assessment of various cardiovascular disease processes. SPCCT can support the study of myocardial blood perfusion and enable enhanced tissue characterization and the identification of contrast agents, in a manner that was previously unattainable.
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Affiliation(s)
- Antonella Meloni
- Bioengineering Unit, Fondazione G. Monasterio CNR-Regione Toscana, 56124 Pisa, Italy; (A.M.); (V.P.)
- Department of Radiology, Fondazione G. Monasterio CNR-Regione Toscana, 56124 Pisa, Italy; (A.C.); (C.D.G.); (M.O.)
| | - Erica Maffei
- Department of Radiology, Istituto di Ricovero e Cura a Carattere Scientifico SYNLAB SDN, 80131 Naples, Italy; (E.M.); (C.C.); (B.P.)
| | - Alberto Clemente
- Department of Radiology, Fondazione G. Monasterio CNR-Regione Toscana, 56124 Pisa, Italy; (A.C.); (C.D.G.); (M.O.)
| | - Carmelo De Gori
- Department of Radiology, Fondazione G. Monasterio CNR-Regione Toscana, 56124 Pisa, Italy; (A.C.); (C.D.G.); (M.O.)
| | - Mariaelena Occhipinti
- Department of Radiology, Fondazione G. Monasterio CNR-Regione Toscana, 56124 Pisa, Italy; (A.C.); (C.D.G.); (M.O.)
| | - Vicenzo Positano
- Bioengineering Unit, Fondazione G. Monasterio CNR-Regione Toscana, 56124 Pisa, Italy; (A.M.); (V.P.)
- Department of Radiology, Fondazione G. Monasterio CNR-Regione Toscana, 56124 Pisa, Italy; (A.C.); (C.D.G.); (M.O.)
| | - Sergio Berti
- Diagnostic and Interventional Cardiology Department, Fondazione G. Monasterio CNR-Regione Toscana, 54100 Massa, Italy;
| | - Ludovico La Grutta
- Department of Radiology, University Hospital “P. Giaccone”, 90127 Palermo, Italy;
| | - Luca Saba
- Department of Radiology, University Hospital of Cagliari, 09042 Monserrato (CA), Italy; (L.S.); (R.C.)
| | - Riccardo Cau
- Department of Radiology, University Hospital of Cagliari, 09042 Monserrato (CA), Italy; (L.S.); (R.C.)
| | - Eduardo Bossone
- Department of Cardiology, Ospedale Cardarelli, 80131 Naples, Italy;
| | - Cesare Mantini
- Department of Radiology, “G. D’Annunzio” University, 66100 Chieti, Italy;
| | - Carlo Cavaliere
- Department of Radiology, Istituto di Ricovero e Cura a Carattere Scientifico SYNLAB SDN, 80131 Naples, Italy; (E.M.); (C.C.); (B.P.)
| | - Bruna Punzo
- Department of Radiology, Istituto di Ricovero e Cura a Carattere Scientifico SYNLAB SDN, 80131 Naples, Italy; (E.M.); (C.C.); (B.P.)
| | - Simona Celi
- BioCardioLab, Fondazione G. Monasterio CNR-Regione Toscana, 54100 Massa, Italy;
| | - Filippo Cademartiri
- Department of Radiology, Fondazione G. Monasterio CNR-Regione Toscana, 56124 Pisa, Italy; (A.C.); (C.D.G.); (M.O.)
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Eibschutz LS, Matcuk G, Chiu MKJ, Lu MY, Gholamrezanezhad A. Updates on the Applications of Spectral Computed Tomography for Musculoskeletal Imaging. Diagnostics (Basel) 2024; 14:732. [PMID: 38611645 PMCID: PMC11011285 DOI: 10.3390/diagnostics14070732] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/27/2024] [Revised: 03/20/2024] [Accepted: 03/26/2024] [Indexed: 04/14/2024] Open
Abstract
Spectral CT represents a novel imaging approach that can noninvasively visualize, quantify, and characterize many musculoskeletal pathologies. This modality has revolutionized the field of radiology by capturing CT attenuation data across multiple energy levels and offering superior tissue characterization while potentially minimizing radiation exposure compared to traditional enhanced CT scans. Despite MRI being the preferred imaging method for many musculoskeletal conditions, it is not viable for some patients. Moreover, this technique is time-consuming, costly, and has limited availability in many healthcare settings. Thus, spectral CT has a considerable role in improving the diagnosis, characterization, and treatment of gout, inflammatory arthropathies, degenerative disc disease, osteoporosis, occult fractures, malignancies, ligamentous injuries, and other bone-marrow pathologies. This comprehensive review will delve into the diverse capabilities of dual-energy CT, a subset of spectral CT, in addressing these musculoskeletal conditions and explore potential future avenues for its integration into clinical practice.
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Affiliation(s)
- Liesl S. Eibschutz
- Department of Radiology, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California (USC), Los Angeles, CA 90007, USA (M.K.-J.C.); (M.Y.L.)
| | - George Matcuk
- Department of Radiology, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA 90048, USA
| | - Michael Kuo-Jiun Chiu
- Department of Radiology, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California (USC), Los Angeles, CA 90007, USA (M.K.-J.C.); (M.Y.L.)
| | - Max Yang Lu
- Department of Radiology, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California (USC), Los Angeles, CA 90007, USA (M.K.-J.C.); (M.Y.L.)
| | - Ali Gholamrezanezhad
- Department of Radiology, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California (USC), Los Angeles, CA 90007, USA (M.K.-J.C.); (M.Y.L.)
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Liu LP, Pua R, Rosario-Berrios DN, Sandvold OF, Perkins AE, Cormode DP, Shapira N, Soulen MC, Noël PB. Reproducible spectral CT thermometry with liver-mimicking phantoms for image-guided thermal ablation. Phys Med Biol 2024; 69:045009. [PMID: 38252974 PMCID: PMC10839467 DOI: 10.1088/1361-6560/ad2124] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/01/2023] [Revised: 01/02/2024] [Accepted: 01/22/2024] [Indexed: 01/24/2024]
Abstract
Objectives. Evaluate the reproducibility, temperature tolerance, and radiation dose requirements of spectral CT thermometry in tissue-mimicking phantoms to establish its utility for non-invasive temperature monitoring of thermal ablations.Methods. Three liver mimicking phantoms embedded with temperature sensors were individually scanned with a dual-layer spectral CT at different radiation dose levels during heating (35 °C-80 °C). Physical density maps were reconstructed from spectral results using varying reconstruction parameters. Thermal volumetric expansion was then measured at each temperature sensor every 5 °C in order to establish a correlation between physical density and temperature. Linear regressions were applied based on thermal volumetric expansion for each phantom, and coefficient of variation for fit parameters was calculated to characterize reproducibility of spectral CT thermometry. Additionally, temperature tolerance was determined to evaluate effects of acquisition and reconstruction parameters. The resulting minimum radiation dose to meet the clinical temperature accuracy requirement was determined for each slice thickness with and without additional denoising.Results. Thermal volumetric expansion was robustly replicated in all three phantoms, with a correlation coefficient variation of only 0.43%. Similarly, the coefficient of variation for the slope and intercept were 9.6% and 0.08%, respectively, indicating reproducibility of the spectral CT thermometry. Temperature tolerance ranged from 2 °C to 23 °C, decreasing with increased radiation dose, slice thickness, and iterative reconstruction level. To meet the clinical requirement for temperature tolerance, the minimum required radiation dose ranged from 20, 30, and 57 mGy for slice thickness of 2, 3, and 5 mm, respectively, but was reduced to 2 mGy with additional denoising.Conclusions. Spectral CT thermometry demonstrated reproducibility across three liver-mimicking phantoms and illustrated the clinical requirement for temperature tolerance can be met for different slice thicknesses. The reproducibility and temperature accuracy of spectral CT thermometry enable its clinical application for non-invasive temperature monitoring of thermal ablation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Leening P Liu
- Department of Radiology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, United States of America
- Department of Bioengineering, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, United States of America
| | - Rizza Pua
- Department of Radiology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, United States of America
| | - Derick N Rosario-Berrios
- Department of Radiology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, United States of America
- Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, United States of America
| | - Olivia F Sandvold
- Department of Radiology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, United States of America
- Department of Bioengineering, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, United States of America
| | - Amy E Perkins
- Philips Healthcare, Orange Village, OH, United States of America
| | - David P Cormode
- Department of Radiology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, United States of America
- Department of Bioengineering, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, United States of America
| | - Nadav Shapira
- Department of Radiology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, United States of America
| | - Michael C Soulen
- Department of Radiology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, United States of America
| | - Peter B Noël
- Department of Radiology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, United States of America
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Pan C, Dai F, Sheng L, Li K, Qiao W, Kang Z, Zhang X. Clinical application of spectral CT perfusion scanning in evaluating the blood supply source of portal vein tumor thrombus in hepatocellular carcinoma. Front Oncol 2024; 13:1348679. [PMID: 38304029 PMCID: PMC10832025 DOI: 10.3389/fonc.2023.1348679] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/03/2023] [Accepted: 12/27/2023] [Indexed: 02/03/2024] Open
Abstract
Purpose To evaluate the characteristic of blood supply of liver portal vein tumor thrombus (PVTT) using perfusion indexes and spectral parameters. Methods Between July 2020 and December 2022, the study enrolled 25 liver cancer patients completed with PVTT (male=20, female=5; age 41-74 years (59.48 ± 9.12)) from the Interventional Department of Jiangsu Cancer Hospital. There were 11 cases of type III PVTT, 12 of type II PVTT, and 2 of type I PVTT (Cheng's classification). All patients underwent spectral perfusion scans through dual-layer spectral detector computed tomography. The PVTTs were divided into proximal and distal groups based on the distance between the tumor thrombus and the main portal vein. The perfusion analysis was performed on the 120-kVp conventional images to generate hepatic perfusion index (HPI). The spectral based images (SBIs) during the artery and venous peak phases were extracted from the perfusion data. The iodine map and 40&100-keV virtual monoenergetic image (VMI) were generated from SBI data. HPI, iodine concentration (IC), CT value at 40 and 100-keV, and spectral slope (40-100keV) of the primary lesion, proximal and distal PVTT, and liver parenchyma were measured and compared. The correlation between the primary lesion and proximal and distal PVTT was analyzed. Results The IC and spectral slope during the arterial and venous peak phases and HPI of the primary lesion, proximal PVTT, and distal PVTT were highly correlated (P<0.001). The differences between the IC and spectral slope during the arterial and venous peak phases and HPI of the primary lesion, proximal PVTT were statistically significant (P<0.001). The differences between the IC during venous peak phase and HPI of primary lesion, distal PVTT were statistically significant (P<0.001), and there was no statistically significant difference in arterial phase IC, arterial and venous phase spectral slopes. Conclusion The IC, slope, and HPI of the distal and proximal PVTT were highly correlated with the primary lesion, indicating that PVTT was similar to the primary lesion in the liver that they were both mainly supplied by the hepatic artery. However, there was still significant heterogeneity between the proximal PVTT and the primary lesion, while the difference in the distal PVTT was relatively small.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chunhan Pan
- Department of Radiology, The Affiliated Cancer Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Jiangsu Cancer Hospital and Jiangsu Institute of Cancer Research, Nanjing, China
| | - Feng Dai
- Department of Intervention, The Second Hospital of Nanjing, Nanjing, China
| | - Liuli Sheng
- Department of Radiology, Jiangsu Cancer Hospital, Jiangsu Institute of Cancer Research and The Affiliated Cancer Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China
| | - Kang Li
- Department of Radiology, Jiangsu Cancer Hospital, Jiangsu Institute of Cancer Research and The Affiliated Cancer Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China
| | - Wei Qiao
- Department of Radiology, Jiangsu Cancer Hospital, Jiangsu Institute of Cancer Research and The Affiliated Cancer Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China
| | - Zheng Kang
- Department of Radiology, Jiangsu Cancer Hospital, Jiangsu Institute of Cancer Research and The Affiliated Cancer Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China
| | - Xiuming Zhang
- Department of Radiology, Jiangsu Cancer Hospital, Jiangsu Institute of Cancer Research and The Affiliated Cancer Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China
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Yu X, Cai A, Liang N, Wang S, Zheng Z, Li L, Yan B. Direct Multi-Material Reconstruction via Iterative Proximal Adaptive Descent for Spectral CT Imaging. Bioengineering (Basel) 2023; 10:bioengineering10040470. [PMID: 37106656 PMCID: PMC10136068 DOI: 10.3390/bioengineering10040470] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/27/2023] [Revised: 03/31/2023] [Accepted: 04/04/2023] [Indexed: 04/29/2023] Open
Abstract
Spectral computed tomography (spectral CT) is a promising medical imaging technology because of its ability to provide information on material characterization and quantification. However, with an increasing number of basis materials, the nonlinearity of measurements causes difficulty in decomposition. In addition, noise amplification and beam hardening further reduce image quality. Thus, improving the accuracy of material decomposition while suppressing noise is pivotal for spectral CT imaging. This paper proposes a one-step multi-material reconstruction model as well as an iterative proximal adaptive decent method. In this approach, a proximal step and a descent step with adaptive step size are designed under the forward-backward splitting framework. The convergence analysis of the algorithm is further discussed according to the convexity of the optimization objective function. For simulation experiments with different noise levels, the peak signal-to-noise ratio (PSNR) obtained by the proposed method increases approximately 23 dB, 14 dB, and 4 dB compared to those of other algorithms. Magnified areas of thorax data further demonstrated that the proposed method has a better ability to preserve details in tissues, bones, and lungs. Numerical experiments verify that the proposed method efficiently reconstructed the material maps, and reduced noise and beam hardening artifacts compared with the state-of-the-art methods.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiaohuan Yu
- Henan Key Laboratory of Imaging and Intelligent Processing, PLA Strategic Support Force Information Engineering University, Zhengzhou 450001, China
| | - Ailong Cai
- Henan Key Laboratory of Imaging and Intelligent Processing, PLA Strategic Support Force Information Engineering University, Zhengzhou 450001, China
| | - Ningning Liang
- Henan Key Laboratory of Imaging and Intelligent Processing, PLA Strategic Support Force Information Engineering University, Zhengzhou 450001, China
| | - Shaoyu Wang
- Henan Key Laboratory of Imaging and Intelligent Processing, PLA Strategic Support Force Information Engineering University, Zhengzhou 450001, China
| | - Zhizhong Zheng
- Henan Key Laboratory of Imaging and Intelligent Processing, PLA Strategic Support Force Information Engineering University, Zhengzhou 450001, China
| | - Lei Li
- Henan Key Laboratory of Imaging and Intelligent Processing, PLA Strategic Support Force Information Engineering University, Zhengzhou 450001, China
| | - Bin Yan
- Henan Key Laboratory of Imaging and Intelligent Processing, PLA Strategic Support Force Information Engineering University, Zhengzhou 450001, China
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Wang T, Yue Y, Fan Z, Jia Z, Yu X, Liu C, Hou Y. Spectral Dual-Layer Computed Tomography Can Predict the Invasiveness of Ground-Glass Nodules: A Diagnostic Model Combined with Thymidine Kinase-1. J Clin Med 2023; 12:jcm12031107. [PMID: 36769756 PMCID: PMC9917490 DOI: 10.3390/jcm12031107] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/04/2023] [Revised: 01/26/2023] [Accepted: 01/27/2023] [Indexed: 02/04/2023] Open
Abstract
OBJECTIVES Few studies have explored the use of spectral dual-layer detector-based computed tomography (SDCT) parameters, thymidine kinase-1 (TK1), and tumor abnormal protein (TAP) for the detection of ground-glass nodules (GGNs). Therefore, we aimed to evaluate the quantitative and qualitative parameters generated from SDCT for predicting the pathological subtypes of GGN-featured lung adenocarcinoma combined with TK1 and TAP. MATERIAL AND METHODS Between July 2021 and September 2022, 238 patients with GGNs were retrospectively enrolled in this study. SDCT and tests for TK1 and TAP were performed preoperatively, and the lesions were divided into glandular precursor lesions (PGL), minimally invasive adenocarcinoma (MIA), and invasive adenocarcinoma (IAC), according to the pathological results. A receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was used to compare the diagnostic performance of these parameters. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was performed to construct a joint diagnostic model and create a nomogram. RESULTS This study included 238 GGNs, including 41 atypical adenomatous hyperplasias (AAH), 62 adenocarcinomas in situ (AIS), 49 MIA, and 86 IAC, with a high proportion of women, non-smokers, and pure ground-glass nodule (pGGN). CT100 keV (a/v), electronic density (EDW) (a/v), Daverage, Dsolid, TK1, and TAP of MIA and IAC were higher than those of PGL. The effective atomic number (Zeff (a/v)) was lower in MIA and IAC than in PGL (all p < 0.05). Logistic regression analysis showed that Zeff (a), EDW (a), TK1, Daverage, and internal bronchial morphology were crucial factors in predicting the aggressiveness of GGN. Zeff (a) had the highest diagnostic performance with an area under the ROC curve (AUC) = 0.896, followed by EDW (a) (AUC = 0.838) and CT100 keVa (AUC = 0.819). The diagnostic model and nomogram constructed using these five parameters (Zeff (a) + EDW (a) + CT100 keVa + Daverage + TK1) had an AUC = 0.933, which was higher than the individual parameters (p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS Multiple quantitative and functional parameters can be selected based on SDCT, especially Zeff (a) and EDW (a), which have high sensitivity and specificity for predicting GGNs' invasiveness. Additionally, the combination of TK1 can further improve diagnostic performance, and using a nomogram is helpful for individualized predictions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tong Wang
- Department of Radiology, Shengjing Hospital of China Medical University, Shenyang 110004, China
| | - Yong Yue
- Department of Radiology, Shengjing Hospital of China Medical University, Shenyang 110004, China
| | - Zheng Fan
- Department of Orthopedics, Shengjing Hospital of China Medical University, Shenyang 110004, China
| | - Zheng Jia
- Philips (China) Investment Co., Ltd., Shanghai 200072, China
| | - Xiuze Yu
- Department of Radiology, Shengjing Hospital of China Medical University, Shenyang 110004, China
| | - Chen Liu
- Department of Radiology, Shengjing Hospital of China Medical University, Shenyang 110004, China
| | - Yang Hou
- Department of Radiology, Shengjing Hospital of China Medical University, Shenyang 110004, China
- Correspondence: ; Tel.: +86-96615-73218
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Lim W, Sodemann EB, Büttner L, Jonczyk M, Lüdemann WM, Kahn J, Geisel D, Jann H, Aigner A, Böning G. Spectral Computed Tomography-Derived Iodine Content and Tumor Response in the Follow-Up of Neuroendocrine Tumors-A Single-Center Experience. Curr Oncol 2023; 30:1502-1515. [PMID: 36826076 PMCID: PMC9954990 DOI: 10.3390/curroncol30020115] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/24/2022] [Revised: 01/08/2023] [Accepted: 01/18/2023] [Indexed: 01/24/2023] Open
Abstract
Spectral computed tomography (SCT) allows iodine content (IC) calculation for characterization of hypervascularized neoplasms and thus might help in the staging of neuroendocrine tumors (NETs). This single-center prospective study analyzed the association between SCT-derived IC and tumor response in the follow-up of metastasized NETs. Twenty-six patients with a median age of 70 years (range 51-85) with histologically proven NETs and a total of 78 lesions underwent SCT for staging. Because NETS are rare, no primary NET types were excluded. Lesions and intralesional hotspots were measured in virtual images and iodine maps. Tumor response was classified as progressive or nonprogressive at study endpoint. Generalized estimating equations served to estimate associations between IC and tumor response, additionally stratified by lesion location. Most commonly affected sites were the lymph nodes, liver, pancreas, and bones. Median time between SCT and endpoint was 64 weeks (range 5-260). Despite statistical imprecision in the estimate, patients with higher IC in lymphonodular metastases had lower odds for disease progression (adjusted OR = 0.21, 95% CI: 0.02-2.02). Opposite tendencies were observed in hepatic and pancreatic metastases in unadjusted analyses, which vanished after adjusting for therapy and primary tumor grade.
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Affiliation(s)
- Winna Lim
- Department of Radiology, Charité—Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, and Berlin Institute of Health, Augustenburger Platz 1, 13353 Berlin, Germany
- Correspondence:
| | - Elisa Birgit Sodemann
- Department of Radiology, Charité—Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, and Berlin Institute of Health, Augustenburger Platz 1, 13353 Berlin, Germany
| | - Laura Büttner
- Department of Radiology, Charité—Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, and Berlin Institute of Health, Augustenburger Platz 1, 13353 Berlin, Germany
| | - Martin Jonczyk
- Department of Radiology, Charité—Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, and Berlin Institute of Health, Augustenburger Platz 1, 13353 Berlin, Germany
| | - Willie Magnus Lüdemann
- Department of Radiology, Charité—Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, and Berlin Institute of Health, Augustenburger Platz 1, 13353 Berlin, Germany
| | - Johannes Kahn
- Institute of Neuroradiology, Charité—Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, and Berlin Institute of Health, Augustenburger Platz 1, 13353 Berlin, Germany
| | - Dominik Geisel
- Department of Radiology, Charité—Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, and Berlin Institute of Health, Augustenburger Platz 1, 13353 Berlin, Germany
| | - Henning Jann
- Department of Hepatology and Gastroenterology, Charité—Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, and Berlin Institute of Health, Augustenburger Platz 1, 13353 Berlin, Germany
| | - Annette Aigner
- Institute of Biometry and Clinical Epidemiology, Charité—Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, and Berlin Institute of Health, Campus Charité Mitte, Charitéplatz 1, 10117 Berlin, Germany
| | - Georg Böning
- Department of Radiology, Charité—Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, and Berlin Institute of Health, Augustenburger Platz 1, 13353 Berlin, Germany
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Huang S, Cui X, Han H, Zhang Y, Gao B, Yu W. Study on the scanning protocols for measuring bone mineral density by gemstone CT spectral imaging based on European spine phantom. Acta Radiol 2023; 64:346-352. [PMID: 34877886 DOI: 10.1177/02841851211063014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/31/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Gemstone spectral computed tomography (GSCT) has been used to measure bone mineral density (BMD) in human vertebrae and animal models gradually. PURPOSE To investigate the effect of scanning protocols for BMD measurements by GSCT using the European spine phantom (ESP) and its accuracy and precision. MATERIAL AND METHODS The ESP number 145 containing three hydroxyapatite (HAP) inserts with densities of 50, 100, and 200 mg/cm3 were labeled as L1, L2, and L3, respectively. Quantitative CT (QCT) protocol and 14 groups of scanning protocols configured by GSCT were used to repeatedly scan the ESP 10 times. Their measurements were compared with the true values of ESP and their relative standard deviation and relative error were calculated. RESULTS The measured values of the three inserts at different exposure levels were statistically significant (P < 0.05). The measured values in the 0.8 s/r 260 mA group, 0.5 s/r 630 mA group, and 0.6 s/r 640 mA group were not significantly different from the actual ESP values for L1 and L2. However, the measured values at all the parameters were significantly different from the actual values for the L3. CONCLUSION CT gemstone spectral imaging can accurately and quantitatively measure the HAP value of ESP, but the results of BMD will be affected by the scanning protocols. The best scanning parameter of ESP measured by GSCT was 0.8 s/r 260 mA, taking dose into consideration, and the measurement accuracy of vertebrae with low BMD was higher than that of QCT under this parameter.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shihao Huang
- Dalian Medical University, Dalian, Liaoning, PR China
| | - Xuan Cui
- Department of Medical Imaging, Weifang Medical College, Weifang, Shandong, PR China
| | - Heli Han
- Radiological Department, 12648Qingdao Municipal Hospital, Qingdao University, Qingdao, Shandong, PR China
| | - Yuan Zhang
- Dalian Medical University, Dalian, Liaoning, PR China
| | - Bing Gao
- Dalian Medical University, Dalian, Liaoning, PR China
| | - Wanjiang Yu
- Radiological Department, 12648Qingdao Municipal Hospital, Qingdao University, Qingdao, Shandong, PR China
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Wu N, Cao QW, Wang CN, Hu HG, Shi H, Deng K. Association between quantitative spectral CT parameters, Ki-67 expression, and invasiveness in lung adenocarcinoma manifesting as ground-glass nodules. Acta Radiol 2022; 64:1400-1409. [PMID: 36131377 DOI: 10.1177/02841851221128213] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/01/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Few studies about lung ground-glass nodules (GGNs) have been done using non-enhancement spectral computed tomography (CT) imaging. PURPOSE To examine the association between spectral CT parameters, Ki-67 expression, and invasiveness in lung adenocarcinoma manifesting as GGNs. MATERIAL AND METHODS Spectral CT parameters were analyzed in 106 patients with lung GGNs. The Ki-67 labeling index (Ki-67 LI) was measured, and patients were divided into low expression and high expression groups according to the number of positive-stained cells (low expression ≤10%; high expression >10%). Spectral CT parameters were compared between low and high expression groups. The correlation between spectral CT parameters and Ki-67 LI was estimated by Spearman correlation analysis. Cases were divided into a preinvasive and minimally invasive adenocarcinoma (MIA) group (atypical adenomatous hyperplasia, adenocarcinoma in situ, and MIA) and invasive adenocarcinoma (IA) group. Spectral CT parameters were compared between the two groups. The diagnostic performance was evaluated using receiver operating characteristic analysis. RESULTS There were significant differences in water concentration of lesions (WCL) and monochromatic CT values between the low and high expression groups. CT 40 keV had the highest correlation coefficient with Ki-67 LI. WCL and monochromatic CT values were significantly higher in the IA group than in the pre/MIA group. The value of area under the curve of CT 40 keV was 0.946 (95% confidence interval=0.905-0.988) for differentiating the two groups; the cutoff was -280.66 Hu. CONCLUSION Spectral CT is an effective non-invasive method for the prediction of proliferation and invasiveness in lung adenocarcinoma manifesting as GGNs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nan Wu
- Shandong Provincial Qianfoshan Hospital, 159393Shandong University, Jinan, PR China
| | - Qi-Wei Cao
- Department of Pathology, 66310The First Affiliated Hospital of Shandong First Medical University, Jinan, PR China
| | - Chao-Nan Wang
- Department of Cardiology, 66310The Affiliated Hospital of Shandong University of TCM, Jinan, PR China
| | - Hong-Guang Hu
- Department of Radiology, 66310The First Affiliated Hospital of Shandong First Medical University & Shandong Provincial Qianfoshan Hospital, Jinan, PR China
| | - Hao Shi
- Shandong Provincial Qianfoshan Hospital, 159393Shandong University, Jinan, PR China
| | - Kai Deng
- Department of Radiology, 66310The First Affiliated Hospital of Shandong First Medical University & Shandong Provincial Qianfoshan Hospital, Jinan, PR China
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10
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Cao W, Shapira N, Maidment A, Daerr H, Noël PB. Hepatic dual-contrast CT imaging: slow triple kVp switching CT with CNN-based sinogram completion and material decomposition. J Med Imaging (Bellingham) 2022; 9:014003. [PMID: 35127967 PMCID: PMC8802083 DOI: 10.1117/1.jmi.9.1.014003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/20/2021] [Accepted: 01/03/2022] [Indexed: 02/02/2023] Open
Abstract
Purpose: Dual-contrast protocols are a promising clinical multienergy computed tomography (CT) application for focal liver lesion detection and characterization. One avenue to enable multienergy CT is the introduction of photon-counting detectors (PCD). Although clinical translation is highly desired because of the diagnostic benefits of PCDs, it will still be a decade or more before they are broadly available. In our work, we investigated an alternative solution that can be implemented on widely used conventional CT systems (single source and integrating detector) to perform multimaterial spectral decomposition for dual-contrast imaging. Approach: We propose to slowly alternate the x-ray tube voltage between 3 kVp levels so each kVp level covers a few degrees of gantry rotation. This leads to the challenge of sparsely sampled projection data in each energy level. Performing the material decomposition (MD) in the sinogram domain is not directly possible as the projection images of the three energy levels are not angularly aligned. In order to overcome this challenge, we developed a convolutional neural network (CNN) framework for sparse sinogram completion (SC) and MD. To evaluate the feasibility of the slow kVp switching scheme, simulation studies of an abdominal phantom, which included liver lesions, were conducted. Results: The line-integral SC network yielded sinograms with a pixel-wise RMSE < 0.05 of the line-integrals compared to the ground truth. This provided acceptable image quality up to a switching angle of 9 deg per kVp. The MD network we developed allowed us to differentiate iodine and gadolinium in the sinogram domain. The average relative quantification errors for iodine and gadolinium were below 10%. Conclusions: We developed a slow triple kVp switching data acquisition scheme and a CNN-based data processing pipeline. Results from a digital phantom validation illustrate the potential for future applications of dual-contrast agent protocols on practically available single-energy CT systems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wenchao Cao
- University of Pennsylvania, Perelman School of Medicine, Department of Radiology, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
| | - Nadav Shapira
- University of Pennsylvania, Perelman School of Medicine, Department of Radiology, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
| | - Andrew Maidment
- University of Pennsylvania, Perelman School of Medicine, Department of Radiology, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
| | | | - Peter B. Noël
- University of Pennsylvania, Perelman School of Medicine, Department of Radiology, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States,Technical University of Munich, School of Medicine, Klinikum rechts der Isar, Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology, München, Germany,Address all correspondencce to Peter B. Noël,
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11
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Tarkowski P, Czekajska-Chehab E. Dual-Energy Heart CT: Beyond Better Angiography-Review. J Clin Med 2021; 10:jcm10215193. [PMID: 34768713 PMCID: PMC8584316 DOI: 10.3390/jcm10215193] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/28/2021] [Revised: 11/02/2021] [Accepted: 11/04/2021] [Indexed: 12/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Heart CT has undergone substantial development from the use of calcium scores performed on electron beam CT to modern 256+-row CT scanners. The latest big step in its evolution was the invention of dual-energy scanners with much greater capabilities than just performing better ECG-gated angio-CT. In this review, we present the unique features of dual-energy CT in heart diagnostics.
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12
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Wu W, Chen P, Wang S, Vardhanabhuti V, Liu F, Yu H. Image-domain Material Decomposition for Spectral CT using a Generalized Dictionary Learning. IEEE Trans Radiat Plasma Med Sci 2021; 5:537-547. [PMID: 34222737 PMCID: PMC8248524 DOI: 10.1109/trpms.2020.2997880] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/07/2022]
Abstract
The spectral computed tomography (CT) has huge advantages by providing accurate material information. Unfortunately, due to the instability or overdetermination of material decomposition model, the accuracy of material decomposition can be compromised in practice. Very recently, the dictionary learning based image-domain material decomposition (DLIMD) can obtain high accuracy for material decompositions from reconstructed spectral CT images. This method can explore the correlation of material components to some extent by training a unified dictionary from all material images. In addition, the dictionary learning based prior as a penalty is applied on material components independently, and many parameters would be carefully elaborated in practice. Because the concentration of contrast agent in clinical applications is low, it can result in data inconsistency for dictionary based representation during the iteration process. To avoid the aforementioned limitations and further improve the accuracy of materials, we first construct a generalized dictionary learning based image-domain material decomposition (GDLIMD) model. Then, the material tensor image is unfolded along the mode-1 to enhance the correlation of different materials. Finally, to avoid the data inconsistency of low iodine contrast, a normalization strategy is employed. Both physical phantom and tissue-synthetic phantom experiments demonstrate the proposed GDLIMD method outperforms the DLIMD and direct inversion (DI) methods.
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Affiliation(s)
- Weiwen Wu
- Department of Diagnostic Radiology, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, 999077, China
| | - Peijun Chen
- Key Lab of Optoelectronic Technology and Systems, Ministry of Education, Chongqing University, Chongqing 400044, China
| | - Shaoyu Wang
- Key Lab of Optoelectronic Technology and Systems, Ministry of Education, Chongqing University, Chongqing 400044, China
| | - Varut Vardhanabhuti
- Department of Diagnostic Radiology, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, 999077, China
| | - Fenglin Liu
- Key Lab of Optoelectronic Technology and Systems, Ministry of Education, Chongqing University, Chongqing 400044, China
| | - Hengyong Yu
- Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Massachusetts Lowell, Lowell, MA 01854, USA
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13
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Wu S, Meng X, Jiang X, Wu Y, Zhai S, Wang X, Liu Y, Zhang J, Zhao X, Zhou Y, Bu W, Yao Z. Harnessing X-Ray Energy-Dependent Attenuation of Bismuth-Based Nanoprobes for Accurate Diagnosis of Liver Fibrosis. Adv Sci (Weinh) 2021; 8:e2002548. [PMID: 34105274 PMCID: PMC8188217 DOI: 10.1002/advs.202002548] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/06/2020] [Revised: 01/31/2021] [Indexed: 05/07/2023]
Abstract
Timely detection of liver fibrosis by X-ray computed tomography (CT) can prevent its progression to fatal liver diseases. However, it remains quite challenging because conventional CT can only identify the difference in density instead of X-ray attenuation characteristics. Spectral CT can generate monochromatic imaging to specify X-ray attenuation characteristics of the scanned matter. Herein, an X-ray energy-dependent attenuation strategy originated from bismuth (Bi)-based nanoprobes (BiF3 @PDA@HA) is proposed for the accurate diagnosis of liver fibrosis. Bi element in BiF3 @PDA@HA can exhibit characteristic attenuation depending on different levels of X-ray energy via spectral CT, and that is challenging for conventional CT. In this study, selectively accumulating BiF3 @PDA@HA nanoprobes in the hepatic fibrosis areas can significantly elevate CT value for 40 Hounsfield units on 70 keV monochromatic images, successfully differentiating from healthy livers and achieving the diagnosis of liver fibrosis. Furthermore, the enhancement produced by the BiF3 @PDA@HA nanoprobes in vivo increases as the monochromatic energy decreases from 70 to 40 keV, optimizing the conspicuity of the diseased areas. As a proof of concept, the strategically designed nanoprobes with energy-dependent attenuation characteristics not only expand the scope of CT application, but also hold excellent potential for precise imaging-based disease diagnosis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shiman Wu
- Department of RadiologyHuashan HospitalFudan UniversityShanghai200040P. R. China
| | - Xianfu Meng
- Department of Materials ScienceFudan UniversityShanghai200433P. R. China
- Tongji University Cancer CenterShanghai Tenth People's HospitalTongji University School of MedicineShanghai200072P. R. China
| | - Xingwu Jiang
- Department of Materials ScienceFudan UniversityShanghai200433P. R. China
| | - Yelin Wu
- Tongji University Cancer CenterShanghai Tenth People's HospitalTongji University School of MedicineShanghai200072P. R. China
| | - Shaojie Zhai
- State Key Laboratory of High Performance Ceramics and Superfine MicrostructureShanghai Institute of CeramicsChinese Academy of SciencesShanghai200050P. R. China
| | - Xiaoshuang Wang
- Department of RadiologyHuashan HospitalFudan UniversityShanghai200040P. R. China
| | - Yanyan Liu
- Department of Materials ScienceFudan UniversityShanghai200433P. R. China
| | - Jiawen Zhang
- Department of RadiologyHuashan HospitalFudan UniversityShanghai200040P. R. China
| | - Xinxin Zhao
- Department of RadiologyRenji HospitalSchool of MedicineShanghai Jiao Tong UniversityShanghai200127P. R. China
| | - Yan Zhou
- Department of RadiologyRenji HospitalSchool of MedicineShanghai Jiao Tong UniversityShanghai200127P. R. China
| | - Wenbo Bu
- Department of Materials ScienceFudan UniversityShanghai200433P. R. China
- State Key Laboratory of High Performance Ceramics and Superfine MicrostructureShanghai Institute of CeramicsChinese Academy of SciencesShanghai200050P. R. China
| | - Zhenwei Yao
- Department of RadiologyHuashan HospitalFudan UniversityShanghai200040P. R. China
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14
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Almqvist H, Almqvist NS, Holmin S, Mazya MV. Dual-Energy CT Follow-Up After Stroke Thrombolysis Alters Assessment of Hemorrhagic Complications. Front Neurol 2020; 11:357. [PMID: 32508735 PMCID: PMC7249255 DOI: 10.3389/fneur.2020.00357] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/08/2020] [Accepted: 04/14/2020] [Indexed: 01/01/2023] Open
Abstract
Background and Purpose: We aimed to determine whether dual-energy CT (DECT) follow-up can differentiate contrast staining (CS) from intracranial hemorrhage (ICH) in stroke patients treated with intravenous thrombolysis (IVT), who had undergone acute stroke imaging using CT angiography (CTA), and CT perfusion (CTP). Materials and Methods: Between November 2012 and January 2018, 168 patients at our comprehensive stroke center underwent DECT follow-up within 36 h after IVT and acute CTA with or without CTP but did not receive intra-arterial imaging or treatment. Two independent readers evaluated plain monochromatic CT (pCT) alone and compared this with a second reading of a combined DECT approach using pCT and water- and iodine-weighted images, establishing and grading the ICH diagnosis, per Heidelberg and Safe Implementation of Treatments in Stroke Monitoring Study (SITS-MOST) classifications. Results: On pCT alone within 36 h, 31/168 (18.5%) patients had findings diagnosed as ICH. Using combined DECT (cDECT) changed ICH diagnosis to “CS only” in 3/168 (1.8%) patients, constituting 3/31 (9.7%) of cases with initially pCT-diagnosed ICH. These three cases had pCT diagnoses of one SAH, one minor, and one more extensive petechial hemorrhage (hemorrhagic infarction types 1 and 2), respectively. pCT alone had a 100% sensitivity, 98% specificity, 90% positive predictive value (PPV), 100% negative predictive value (NPV), and 98% accuracy for any ICH, compared to the cDECT. Inter-reader agreement for ICH classification using pCT compared to DECT was weighted kappa 0.92 (95% CI 0.87–0.98) vs. 0.91 (0.85–0.95). Conclusion: Compared to pCT, DECT within 36 h after IV thrombolysis for acute ischemic stroke, changes the radiological diagnosis of post-treatment ICH to “CS only” in a small proportion of patients. Studies are warranted of whether the altered radiological reports have an impact on patient management, for example initiation timing of antithrombotic secondary prevention.
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Affiliation(s)
- Håkan Almqvist
- Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.,Department of Neuroradiology, Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden
| | | | - Staffan Holmin
- Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.,Department of Neuroradiology, Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Michael V Mazya
- Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.,Department of Neurovascular Diseases, Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden
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15
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Böning G, Jahnke P, Feldhaus F, Fehrenbach U, Kahn J, Hamm B, Streitparth F. Stepwise analysis of potential accuracy-influencing factors of iodine quantification on a fast kVp-switching second-generation dual-energy CT: from 3D-printed phantom to a simple solution in clinical routine use. Acta Radiol 2020; 61:424-431. [PMID: 31319686 DOI: 10.1177/0284185119861312] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/23/2023]
Abstract
Background Measurement of iodine concentration from dual-energy or spectral computed tomography (CT) provides useful diagnostic information especially in patients suffering from malignant tumors of various origins. Purpose The purpose of this study was to systematically investigate the accuracy of the measurement of iodine concentration, focusing on potential influencing factors and assessing its suitability for routine clinical use. Material and Methods First, a 3D-printed cylindrical phantom was used to assess reliability of dual-energy CT-based iodine concentration measurement. Second, a semi-anthropomorphic phantom was used to evaluate the potential impact of positional variation of the target volume as typically seen in clinical scans. Finally, a reference vial was placed on the body surface of 38 patients undergoing abdominal dual-energy CT to analyze correlations between applied doses and patient diameters. Results The position of the target volume within the cylindrical phantom and the applied dose level significantly influenced the magnitude of measured iodine concentrations ( P < 0.001). We also found a significant difference in accuracy depending on target volume position in the semi-anthropomorphic phantom ( P = 0.028). In patient scans, we observed an error of 19.6 ± 5.6% in iodine concentration measurements of a reference and significant, moderate to strong, negative correlations between measured iodine concentration, maximum patient diameter, and applied dose (maximum sagittal diameter: r = −0.455, P = 0.004; maximum coronal diameter: r=−0.517, P = 0.001; CTDIvol: r = −0.385, P = 0.017) Conclusion Dual-energy CT-based iodine concentration measurement should be interpreted with caution. In clinical examinations, placement of a reference vial could be a potential solution to relativize errors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Georg Böning
- Department of Radiology, Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Humboldt University and Free University of Berlin Medical School, Berlin, Germany
| | - Paul Jahnke
- Department of Radiology, Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Humboldt University and Free University of Berlin Medical School, Berlin, Germany
| | - Felix Feldhaus
- Department of Radiology, Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Humboldt University and Free University of Berlin Medical School, Berlin, Germany
| | - Uli Fehrenbach
- Department of Radiology, Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Humboldt University and Free University of Berlin Medical School, Berlin, Germany
| | - Johannes Kahn
- Department of Radiology, Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Humboldt University and Free University of Berlin Medical School, Berlin, Germany
| | - Bernd Hamm
- Department of Radiology, Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Humboldt University and Free University of Berlin Medical School, Berlin, Germany
| | - Florian Streitparth
- Department of Radiology, Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Humboldt University and Free University of Berlin Medical School, Berlin, Germany
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16
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Abstract
Spectral computed tomography (CT) has a great potential in material identification and decomposition. To achieve high-quality material composition images and further suppress the x-ray beam hardening artifacts, we first propose a one-step material reconstruction model based on Taylor's first-order expansion. Then, we develop a basic material reconstruction method named material simultaneous algebraic reconstruction technique (MSART). Considering the local similarity of each material image, we incorporate a powerful block matching frame (BMF) into the material reconstruction (MR) model and generate a BMF based MR (BMFMR) method. Because the BMFMR model contains the L 0-norm problem, we adopt a split-Bregman method for optimization. The numerical simulation and physical phantom experiment results validate the correctness of the material reconstruction algorithms and demonstrate that the BMF regularization outperforms the total variation and no-local mean regularizations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Weiwen Wu
- Key Lab of Optoelectronic Technology and Systems, Ministry of Education, Chongqing University, Chongqing 400044, People’s Republic of China
- Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Massachusetts Lowell, Lowell, MA 01854, United States of America
- The contributions of W Wu and Q Wang are equal
| | - Qian Wang
- Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Massachusetts Lowell, Lowell, MA 01854, United States of America
- The contributions of W Wu and Q Wang are equal
| | - Fenglin Liu
- Key Lab of Optoelectronic Technology and Systems, Ministry of Education, Chongqing University, Chongqing 400044, People’s Republic of China
- Engineering Research Center of Industrial Computed Tomography Nondestructive Testing, Ministry of Education, Chongqing University, Chongqing 400044, People’s Republic of China
| | - Yining Zhu
- School of Mathematical Sciences, Capital Normal University, Beijing 100048, People’s Republic of China
| | - Hengyong Yu
- Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Massachusetts Lowell, Lowell, MA 01854, United States of America
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17
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Feng C, Kang K, Xing Y. Fully connected neural network for virtual monochromatic imaging in spectral computed tomography. J Med Imaging (Bellingham) 2019; 6:011006. [PMID: 30397632 PMCID: PMC6197866 DOI: 10.1117/1.jmi.6.1.011006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/05/2018] [Accepted: 10/02/2018] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Spectral computed tomography (SCT) has advantages in multienergy material decomposition for material discrimination and quantitative image reconstruction. However, due to the nonideal physical effects of photon counting detectors, including charge sharing, pulse pileup and K -escape, it is difficult to obtain precise system models in practical SCT systems. Serious spectral distortion is unavoidable, which introduces error into the decomposition model and affects material decomposition accuracy. Recently, neural networks demonstrated great potential in image segmentation, object detection, natural language processing, etc. By adjusting the interconnection relationship among internal nodes, it provides a way to mine information from data. Considering the difficulty in modeling SCT system spectra and the superiority of data-driven characteristics of neural networks, we proposed a spectral information extraction method for virtual monochromatic attenuation maps using a simple fully connected neural network without knowing spectral information. In our method, virtual monochromatic linear attenuation coefficients can be obtained directly through our neural network, which could contribute to further material recognition. Our method also provides outstanding performance on denoising and artifacts suppression. It can be furnished for SCT systems with different settings of energy bins or thresholds. Various substances available can be used for training. The trained neural network has a good generalization ability according to our results. The testing mean square errors are about 1 × 10 - 05 cm - 2 .
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Affiliation(s)
- Chuqing Feng
- Tsinghua University, Department of Engineering Physics, Beijing, China
- Key Laboratory of Particle and Radiation Imaging (Tsinghua University), Ministry of Education, Beijing, China
| | - Kejun Kang
- Tsinghua University, Department of Engineering Physics, Beijing, China
- Key Laboratory of Particle and Radiation Imaging (Tsinghua University), Ministry of Education, Beijing, China
| | - Yuxiang Xing
- Tsinghua University, Department of Engineering Physics, Beijing, China
- Key Laboratory of Particle and Radiation Imaging (Tsinghua University), Ministry of Education, Beijing, China
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18
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Abstract
Spectral computed tomography (CT) reconstructs the same scanned object from projections of multiple narrow energy windows, and it can be used for material identification and decomposition. However, the multi-energy projection dataset has a lower signal-noise-ratio (SNR), resulting in poor reconstructed image quality. To address this thorny problem, we develop a spectral CT reconstruction method, namely spatial-spectral cube matching frame (SSCMF). This method is inspired by the following three facts: i) human body usually consists of two or three basic materials implying that the reconstructed spectral images have a strong sparsity; ii) the same basic material component in a single channel image has similar intensity and structures in local regions. Different material components within the same energy channel share similar structural information; iii) multi-energy projection datasets are collected from the subject by using different narrow energy windows, which means images reconstructed from different energy-channels share similar structures. To explore those information, we first establish a tensor cube matching frame (CMF) for a BM4D denoising procedure. Then, as a new regularizer, the CMF is introduced into a basic spectral CT reconstruction model, generating the SSCMF method. Because the SSCMF model contains an L0-norm minimization of 4D transform coefficients, an effective strategy is employed for optimization. Both numerical simulations and realistic preclinical mouse studies are performed. The results show that the SSCMF method outperforms the state-of-the-art algorithms, including the simultaneous algebraic reconstruction technique, total variation minimization, total variation plus low rank, and tensor dictionary learning.
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Affiliation(s)
- Weiwen Wu
- Key Lab of Optoelectronic Technology and Systems, Ministry of Education, Chongqing University, Chongqing 400044, China
- Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Massachusetts Lowell, Lowell, MA 01854, USA
| | - Yanbo Zhang
- Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Massachusetts Lowell, Lowell, MA 01854, USA
| | - Qian Wang
- Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Massachusetts Lowell, Lowell, MA 01854, USA
| | - Fenglin Liu
- Key Lab of Optoelectronic Technology and Systems, Ministry of Education, Chongqing University, Chongqing 400044, China
- Engineering Research Center of Industrial Computed Tomography Nondestructive Testing, Ministry of Education, Chongqing University, Chongqing 400044, China
| | - Fulin Luo
- State Key Laboratory of Information Engineering in Surveying, Mapping and Remote Sensing, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430079, China
| | - Hengyong Yu
- Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Massachusetts Lowell, Lowell, MA 01854, USA
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Holbrook M, Clark DP, Badea CT. Overcoming detector limitations of x-ray photon counting for preclinical microcomputed tomography. J Med Imaging (Bellingham) 2018; 6:011004. [PMID: 30840718 DOI: 10.1117/1.jmi.6.1.011004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/04/2018] [Accepted: 07/30/2018] [Indexed: 12/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Spectral computed tomography (CT) using photon counting detectors (PCDs) can provide accurate tissue composition measurements by utilizing the energy dependence of x-ray attenuation in different materials. PCDs are especially suited for K-edge imaging, revealing the spatial distribution of select imaging probes through quantitative material decomposition. We report on a prototype spectral micro-CT system with a CZT-based PCD (DxRay, Inc.) that has 16 × 16 pixels of 0.5 × 0.5 mm 2 , a thickness of 3 mm, and four energy thresholds. Due to the PCD's limited size ( 8 × 8 mm 2 ), our system uses a translate-rotate projection acquisition strategy to cover a field of view relevant for preclinical imaging ( ∼ 4.5 cm ). Projection corrections were implemented to minimize artifacts associated with dead pixels and projection stitching. A sophisticated iterative algorithm was used to reconstruct both phantom and ex vivo mouse data. To achieve preclinically relevant spatial resolution, we trained a convolutional neural network to perform pan-sharpening between low-resolution PCD data ( 247 - μ m voxels) and high-resolution energy-integrating detector data ( 82 - μ m voxels), recovering a high-resolution estimate of the spectral contrast suitable for material decomposition. Long-term, preclinical spectral CT systems such as ours could serve in the developing field of theranostics (therapy and diagnostics) for cancer research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Matthew Holbrook
- Duke University, Center for In Vivo Microscopy, Department of Radiology, Durham, North Carolina, United States
| | - Darin P Clark
- Duke University, Center for In Vivo Microscopy, Department of Radiology, Durham, North Carolina, United States
| | - Cristian T Badea
- Duke University, Center for In Vivo Microscopy, Department of Radiology, Durham, North Carolina, United States
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20
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Chen X, Ren K, Liang P, Li J, Chen K, Gao J. Association between spectral computed tomography images and clinicopathological features in advanced gastric adenocarcinoma. Oncol Lett 2017; 14:6664-6670. [PMID: 29163693 PMCID: PMC5686525 DOI: 10.3892/ol.2017.7064] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/23/2016] [Accepted: 07/07/2017] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
To investigate the role of spectral computed tomography (CT)-generated iodine concentration (IC) in the evaluation of clinicopathological features of advanced gastric adenocarcinoma (AGC), 42 patients who underwent abdominal enhanced CT with spectral imaging mode were selected for the present study. The IC of the primary lesion in the arterial phase (ICAP) and portal venous phase (ICVP) was measured and the IC of the aorta was used for a normalized iodine concentration (nIC). Micro-vessel density (MVD) and lymphatic vessel density (LVD) were detected using immunohistochemical assays against cluster of differentiation 34 and D2-40, respectively. Other clinicopathological characteristics were also documented. The IC parameters were revealed to be significantly increased in the high-MVD group, particularly for the nICVP (P=0.002). Additionally, the nICAP revealed a significant difference (P=0.041) between the high- and low-LVD group. The nICAP and nICVP were increased in the poorly differentiated group compared with the moderately differentiated group (P=0.040 and P=0.011, respectively). The ICs and MVD demonstrated a statistically significant positive linear correlation. nICVP was able to be used to discriminate between the moderately and poorly differentiated carcinomas, with an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of 0.759. However, IC demonstrated no correlation with serosal involvement, lymph node metastasis, LVD, and nodular or metastatic tumors. The results of the present study suggest that the nICVP value may serve as a non-invasive marker for the angiogenesis of, and the differentiations between, patients with AGC.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiaohua Chen
- Department of Radiology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, Henan 450052, P.R. China
| | - Ke Ren
- Department of Gastroenterological Surgery, Luohe Central Hospital, Luohe, Henan 462000, P.R. China
| | - Pan Liang
- Department of Radiology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, Henan 450052, P.R. China
| | - Jiayin Li
- Department of Radiology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, Henan 450052, P.R. China
| | - Kuisheng Chen
- Department of Pathology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, Henan 450052, P.R. China
| | - Jianbo Gao
- Department of Radiology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, Henan 450052, P.R. China
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Lorsakul A, Fakhri GE, Worstell W, Ouyang J, Rakvongthai Y, Laine AF, Li Q. Numerical observer for atherosclerotic plaque classification in spectral computed tomography. J Med Imaging (Bellingham) 2016; 3:035501. [PMID: 27429999 PMCID: PMC4940624 DOI: 10.1117/1.jmi.3.3.035501] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/23/2016] [Accepted: 06/20/2016] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Spectral computed tomography (SCT) generates better image quality than conventional computed tomography (CT). It has overcome several limitations for imaging atherosclerotic plaque. However, the literature evaluating the performance of SCT based on objective image assessment is very limited for the task of discriminating plaques. We developed a numerical-observer method and used it to assess performance on discrimination vulnerable-plaque features and compared the performance among multienergy CT (MECT), dual-energy CT (DECT), and conventional CT methods. Our numerical observer was designed to incorporate all spectral information and comprised two-processing stages. First, each energy-window domain was preprocessed by a set of localized channelized Hotelling observers (CHO). In this step, the spectral image in each energy bin was decorrelated using localized prewhitening and matched filtering with a set of Laguerre-Gaussian channel functions. Second, the series of the intermediate scores computed from all the CHOs were integrated by a Hotelling observer with an additional prewhitening and matched filter. The overall signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) were obtained, yielding an overall discrimination performance metric. The performance of our new observer was evaluated for the particular binary classification task of differentiating between alternative plaque characterizations in carotid arteries. A clinically realistic model of signal variability was also included in our simulation of the discrimination tasks. The inclusion of signal variation is a key to applying the proposed observer method to spectral CT data. Hence, the task-based approaches based on the signal-known-exactly/background-known-exactly (SKE/BKE) framework and the clinical-relevant signal-known-statistically/background-known-exactly (SKS/BKE) framework were applied for analytical computation of figures of merit (FOM). Simulated data of a carotid-atherosclerosis patient were used to validate our methods. We used an extended cardiac-torso anthropomorphic digital phantom and three simulated plaque types (i.e., calcified plaque, fatty-mixed plaque, and iodine-mixed blood). The images were reconstructed using a standard filtered backprojection (FBP) algorithm for all the acquisition methods and were applied to perform two different discrimination tasks of: (1) calcified plaque versus fatty-mixed plaque and (2) calcified plaque versus iodine-mixed blood. MECT outperformed DECT and conventional CT systems for all cases of the SKE/BKE and SKS/BKE tasks (all [Formula: see text]). On average of signal variability, MECT yielded the SNR improvements over other acquisition methods in the range of 46.8% to 65.3% (all [Formula: see text]) for FBP-Ramp images and 53.2% to 67.7% (all [Formula: see text]) for FBP-Hanning images for both identification tasks. This proposed numerical observer combined with our signal variability framework is promising for assessing material characterization obtained through the additional energy-dependent attenuation information of SCT. These methods can be further extended to other clinical tasks such as kidney or urinary stone identification applications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Auranuch Lorsakul
- Massachusetts General Hospital, Division of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging, Gordon Center for Medical Imaging, 55 Fruit Street, White 427, Boston, Massachusetts 02114, United States
- Columbia University, Department of Biomedical Engineering, 1210 Amsterdam Avenue, New York, New York 10027, United States
| | - Georges El Fakhri
- Massachusetts General Hospital, Division of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging, Gordon Center for Medical Imaging, 55 Fruit Street, White 427, Boston, Massachusetts 02114, United States
- Harvard Medical School, Department of Radiology, 25 Shattuck Street, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, United States
| | - William Worstell
- PhotoDiagnostic System Inc., 85 Swanson Road, Boxborough, Massachusetts 01719, United States
| | - Jinsong Ouyang
- Massachusetts General Hospital, Division of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging, Gordon Center for Medical Imaging, 55 Fruit Street, White 427, Boston, Massachusetts 02114, United States
- Harvard Medical School, Department of Radiology, 25 Shattuck Street, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, United States
| | - Yothin Rakvongthai
- Massachusetts General Hospital, Division of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging, Gordon Center for Medical Imaging, 55 Fruit Street, White 427, Boston, Massachusetts 02114, United States
- Chulalongkorn University, Department of Radiology, Faculty of Medicine, 1873 Rama 4 Road, Pathumwan, Bangkok 10330, Thailand
| | - Andrew F. Laine
- Columbia University, Department of Biomedical Engineering, 1210 Amsterdam Avenue, New York, New York 10027, United States
| | - Quanzheng Li
- Massachusetts General Hospital, Division of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging, Gordon Center for Medical Imaging, 55 Fruit Street, White 427, Boston, Massachusetts 02114, United States
- Harvard Medical School, Department of Radiology, 25 Shattuck Street, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, United States
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Chen H, Xu C, Persson M, Danielsson M. Optimization of beam quality for photon-counting spectral computed tomography in head imaging: simulation study. J Med Imaging (Bellingham) 2015; 2:043504. [PMID: 26835495 DOI: 10.1117/1.jmi.2.4.043504] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/20/2015] [Accepted: 10/09/2015] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Head computed tomography (CT) plays an important role in the comprehensive evaluation of acute stroke. Photon-counting spectral detectors, as promising candidates for use in the next generation of x-ray CT systems, allow for assigning more weight to low-energy x-rays that generally contain more contrast information. Most importantly, the spectral information can be utilized to decompose the original set of energy-selective images into several basis function images that are inherently free of beam-hardening artifacts, a potential advantage for further improving the diagnosis accuracy. We are developing a photon-counting spectral detector for CT applications. The purpose of this work is to determine the optimal beam quality for material decomposition in two head imaging cases: nonenhanced imaging and K-edge imaging. A cylindrical brain tissue of 16-cm diameter, coated by a 6-mm-thick bone layer and 2-mm-thick skin layer, was used as a head phantom. The imaging target was a 5-mm-thick blood vessel centered in the head phantom. In K-edge imaging, two contrast agents, iodine and gadolinium, with the same concentration ([Formula: see text]) were studied. Three parameters that affect beam quality were evaluated: kVp settings (50 to 130 kVp), filter materials ([Formula: see text] to 83), and filter thicknesses [0 to 2 half-value layer (HVL)]. The image qualities resulting from the varying x-ray beams were compared in terms of two figures of merit (FOMs): squared signal-difference-to-noise ratio normalized by brain dose ([Formula: see text]) and that normalized by skin dose ([Formula: see text]). For nonenhanced imaging, the results show that the use of the 120-kVp spectrum filtered by 2 HVL copper ([Formula: see text]) provides the best performance in both FOMs. When iodine is used in K-edge imaging, the optimal filter is 2 HVL iodine ([Formula: see text]) and the optimal kVps are 60 kVp in terms of [Formula: see text] and 75 kVp in terms of [Formula: see text]. A tradeoff of 65 kVp was proposed to lower the potential risk of skin injuries if a relatively long exposure time is necessarily performed in the iodinated imaging. In the case of gadolinium imaging, both SD and BD can be minimized at 120 kVp filtered with 2 HVL thulium ([Formula: see text]). The results also indicate that with the same concentration and their respective optimal spectrum, the values of [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] in gadolinium imaging are, respectively, around 3 and 10 times larger than those in iodine imaging. However, since gadolinium is used in much lower concentrations than iodine in the clinic, iodine may be a preferable candidate for K-edge imaging.
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Affiliation(s)
- Han Chen
- Royal Institute of Technology (KTH) , Department of Physics, Stockholm 106 91, Sweden
| | - Cheng Xu
- Royal Institute of Technology (KTH) , Department of Physics, Stockholm 106 91, Sweden
| | - Mats Persson
- Royal Institute of Technology (KTH) , Department of Physics, Stockholm 106 91, Sweden
| | - Mats Danielsson
- Royal Institute of Technology (KTH) , Department of Physics, Stockholm 106 91, Sweden
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Wan Y, Li Z, Ji N, Gao J. Comparison of gastric vascular anatomy by monochromatic and polychromatic dual-energy spectral computed tomography imaging. J Int Med Res 2014; 42:26-34. [PMID: 24435514 DOI: 10.1177/0300060513504703] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
OBJECTIVE To evaluate the use of monochromatic and polychromatic dual-energy spectral computed tomography (CT) imaging for preoperative assessment of gastric vascular anatomy. METHODS Patients with suspected gastric cancer underwent spectral CT to generate conventional 140 kVp polychromatic and monochromatic images with energy levels ranging from 40 to 140 keV during the late arterial and portal venous phases. Optimal monochromatic images were selected according to the contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) for the gastric artery. Image quality was subjectively assessed. Display rates of the arteries were recorded. RESULTS The study included 64 patients. Monochromatic images at 53 ± 3 keV provided the optimum CNR. At this energy level, subjective image scores were significantly higher for monochromatic images than polychromatic images. There were no significant differences in the display rates of arteries between polychromatic and optimal monochromatic images. CONCLUSIONS Monochromatic images obtained with spectral CT can improve the visualization of gastric arteries.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yamin Wan
- Department of Radiology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, China
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Zhang XF, Lu Q, Wu LM, Zou AH, Hua XL, Xu JR. Quantitative iodine-based material decomposition images with spectral CT imaging for differentiating prostatic carcinoma from benign prostatic hyperplasia. Acad Radiol 2013; 20:947-56. [PMID: 23830601 DOI: 10.1016/j.acra.2013.02.011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/29/2012] [Revised: 02/18/2013] [Accepted: 02/18/2013] [Indexed: 02/08/2023]
Abstract
RATIONALE AND OBJECTIVES To investigate the value of iodine-based material decomposition images produced via spectral computed tomography (CT) in differentiating prostate cancer (PCa) from benign prostate hyperplasia (BPH). MATERIALS AND METHODS Fifty-six male patients underwent CT examination with spectral imaging during arterial phase (AP), venous phase (VP), and parenchymal phase (PP) of enhancement. Iodine concentrations of lesions were measured and normalized to that of the obturator internus muscle. Lesion CT values at 75 keV (corresponding to the energy of polychromatic images at 120 kVp) were measured and also normalized; their differences between AP and VP, VP and PP, and PP and AP were also obtained. The two-sample t-test was performed for comparisons. A receiver operating characteristic curve was generated to establish the threshold for normalized iodine concentration (NIC). RESULTS Fifty-two peripheral lesions were found, which were confirmed by biopsy as 28 cases of PCa and 24 BPHs. The NICs of prostate cancers significantly differed from those of the BPHs: 2.38 ± 1.72 compared with 1.21 ± 0.72 in AP, respectively, and 2.67 ± 0.61 compared with 2.27 ± 0.77 in VP. Receiver operating characteristic analysis indicated that an NIC of 1.24 in the AP provided a sensitivity of 88% and a specificity of 71% for differentiating PCa from BPH. CONCLUSIONS Spectral CT imaging enabled quantitative depiction of contrast medium uptake in prostatic lesions and improved sensitivity and specificity for differentiating PCa from BPH.
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