Nonlinear image blending for dual-energy MDCT of the abdomen: can image quality be preserved if the contrast medium dose is reduced?

Objective: The objective of this study was to compare the image quality of a dual-energy nonlinear image blending technique at reduced load of contrast medium with a simulated 120-kVp linear blending technique at a full dose during portal venous phase MDCT of the abdomen.

Subjects And Methods: Forty-five patients (25 men, 20 women; mean age, 65.6 ± 9.

Iodine quantification to distinguish clear cell from papillary renal cell carcinoma at dual-energy multidetector CT: a multireader diagnostic performance study.

Purpose: To investigate whether dual-energy multidetector row computed tomographic (CT) imaging with iodine quantification is able to distinguish between clear cell and papillary renal cell carcinoma ( RCC renal cell carcinoma ) subtypes.

Materials And Methods: In this retrospective, HIPAA-compliant, institutional review board-approved study, 88 patients (57 men, 31 women) with diagnosis of either clear cell or papillary RCC renal cell carcinoma at pathologic analysis, who underwent contrast material-enhanced dual-energy nephrographic phase study between December 2007 and June 2013, were included. Five readers, blinded to pathologic diagnosis, independently evaluated all cases by determining the lesion iodine concentration on color-coded iodine maps.

Dual-source dual-energy CT with additional tin filtration: Dose and image quality evaluation in phantoms and in vivo.

Objective: The objective of this study was to investigate the effect on radiation dose and image quality of the use of additional spectral filtration for dual-energy CT using dual-source CT (DSCT).

Materials And Methods: A commercial DSCT scanner was modified by adding tin filtration to the high-kV tube, and radiation output and noise were measured in water phantoms. Dose values for equivalent image noise were compared between the dual-energy mode with and without tin filtration and the single-energy mode.

Pilot multi-reader study demonstrating potential for dose reduction in dual energy hepatic CT using non-linear blending of mixed kV image datasets.

Objective: To determine the potential for radiation dose reduction using sigmoidally-blended mixed-kV images from dual energy (DE) hepatic CT.

Methods: Multiple contrast-enhanced, DE (80 kV/140 kV) datasets were reconstructed from 34 patients undergoing clinically-indicated examinations using routine CTDI(vol). Noise was inserted in projection-space to simulate six dose levels reflecting 25-100% of the original dose.

Evaluation of z-axis resolution and image noise for nonconstant velocity spiral CT data reconstructed using a weighted 3D filtered backprojection (WFBP) reconstruction algorithm.

Purpose: To determine the constancy of z-axis spatial resolution, CT number, image noise, and the potential for image artifacts for nonconstant velocity spiral CT data reconstructed using a flexibly weighted 3D filtered backprojection (WFBP) reconstruction algorithm.

Methods: A WFBP reconstruction algorithm was used to reconstruct stationary (axial, pitch=0), constant velocity spiral (pitch = 0.35-1.

Dual-source spiral CT with pitch up to 3.2 and 75 ms temporal resolution: image reconstruction and assessment of image quality.

Purpose: To present the theory for image reconstruction of a high-pitch, high-temporal-resolution spiral scan mode for dual-source CT (DSCT) and evaluate its image quality and dose.

Methods: With the use of two x-ray sources and two data acquisition systems, spiral CT exams having a nominal temporal resolution per image of up to one-quarter of the gantry rotation time can be acquired using pitch values up to 3.2.

Dose reduction in helical CT: dynamically adjustable z-axis X-ray beam collimation.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to measure the dose reduction achieved with dynamically adjustable z-axis collimation.

Materials And Methods: A commercial CT system was used to acquire CT scans with and without dynamic z-axis collimation. Dose reduction was measured as a function of pitch, scan length, and position for total incident radiation in air at isocenter, accumulated dose to the center of the scan volume, and accumulated dose to a point at varying distances from a scan volume of fixed length.

Academic technology transfer and radiology: a strong partnership for the future.

To date, technology transfer from academia to industry has been strongest in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical sector. The medical imaging and medical device industries have traditionally been smaller players and, as a result, some, perhaps many, investigators in radiology are unaware of the potential value of technology transfer and the opportunity to receive sponsorship for research from medical imaging companies. Many investigators are also unaware of opportunities to introduce important academic discoveries into clinical practice through licensing and technology transfer.

Statistical assessment of regional time-density measurement of myocardial perfusion.

Rationale And Objectives: The measurement of time-density relationships of the myocardium in studies of magnetic resonance perfusion images is a clinical technique used in assessing myocardial perfusion. This article presents a new technique, allowing regional time-density measurement and display of myocardial perfusion with improved accuracy compared with traditional manual trace techniques. Moreover, a method using statistical methods to discriminate relative decreased perfusion regions that differ significantly from the normally perfused myocardial tissue is introduced.

Parametric visualization methods for the quantitative assessment of myocardial motion.

Rationale And Objectives: The authors performed this study to evaluate three-dimensional (3D) and four-dimensional (4D) techniques for quantifying and visualizing myocardial motion.

Materials And Methods: The 4D method was performed by using 3D reconstructions of the complete, in vivo, canine heart before and after acute myocardial infarction. Images were obtained with the Dynamic Spatial Reconstructor (1-3) at 15 time points throughout one cardiac cycle.