Beam-hardening in 70-kV Coronary CT angiography: Artifact reduction using an advanced post-processing algorithm.

Purpose: To investigate the effect of an iterative beam-hardening correction algorithm (iBHC) on artifact reduction and image quality in coronary CT angiography (cCTA) with low tube voltage.

Material And Methods: Thirty-six patients (17 male, mean age, 57.3 ± 14.

Accuracy of iodine quantification using dual energy CT in latest generation dual source and dual layer CT.

Objective: To determine the accuracy of iodine quantification with dual energy computed tomography (DECT) in two high-end CT systems with different spectral imaging techniques.

Methods: Five tubes with different iodine concentrations (0, 5, 10, 15, 20 mg/ml) were analysed in an anthropomorphic thoracic phantom. Adding two phantom rings simulated increased patient size.

Dose Optimization for Computed Tomography Localizer Radiographs for Low-Dose Lung Computed Tomography Examinations.

Introduction: Recent studies have shown a substantial reduction of radiation dose from computed tomography (CT) scans down to 0.1 mSv for lung cancer screening and cardiac examinations, when applying optimization techniques. Hence, CT localizer radiographs (LRs) might now be considered a significant contributor to the total dose of the CT examination.

The importance of spectral separation: an assessment of dual-energy spectral separation for quantitative ability and dose efficiency.

Introduction: One method to acquire dual-energy (DE) computed tomography (CT) data is to perform CT scans at 2 different x-ray tube voltages, typically 80 and 140 kV, either as 2 separate scans, by means of rapid kV switching, or with the use of 2 x-ray sources as in dual-source CT (DSCT) systems. In DSCT, it is possible to improve spectral separation with tin prefiltration (Sn) of the high-kV beam. Recently, x-ray tube voltages beyond the established range of 80 to 140 kV were commercially introduced, which enable additional voltage combinations for DE acquisitions, such as 80/150 Sn or 90/150 Sn kV.

Quantitative evaluation of the performance of a new test bolus-based computed tomographic angiography contrast-enhancement-prediction algorithm.

Objectives: The objective of this study was to assess the robustness of a novel test bolus (TB)-based computed tomographic angiography (CTA) contrast-enhancement-prediction (CEP) algorithm by retrospectively quantifying the systematic and random errors between the predicted and true enhancements.

Materials And Methods: All local institutional review boards approved this retrospective study, in which a total of 72 (3 × 24) anonymized cardiac CTA examinations were collected from 3 hospitals. All patients (46 men; median age, 62 years [range, 31-81 years]) underwent a TB scan and a cardiac CTA according to local scan and injection protocols.