Evaluation of tubal microinserts position using 3D ultrasound and pelvic X-ray.

Purpose: To retrospectively compare three-dimensional ultrasonography (3D-US) and pelvic X-rays to assess the position of tubal sterilization microinserts.

Material And Methods: Forty-four patients who underwent tubal sterilization with Essure(®) microinserts in our institution were included. The microinserts'position was evaluated three months after the procedure using 3D-US and pelvic X-rays.

CT pulmonary angiogram with 60% dose reduction: Influence of iterative reconstructions on image quality.

Goals: To compare the quality of low-dose CT images with sinogram affirmed iterative reconstruction (SAFIRE), and full-dose CT with filtered back projection reconstructions (FBP).

Materials And Methods: Fifty pulmonary CT performed by a dual-source technique (120kVp; 110mAs) with (a) the same energy in both tubes, and (b) the distribution of reference mAs with 40% in tube A (44mAs) and 60% in tube B (66mAs). Each acquisition allowed reconstruction of: (a) full-dose images (with both tubes) with FBP reconstructions (group 1); and (b) low-dose images (from tube A) reconstructed with SAFIRE (group 2).