Influence of beam hardening in dual-energy CT imaging: phantom study for iodine mapping, virtual monoenergetic imaging, and virtual non-contrast imaging

European Radiology Experimental

Masateru Kawakubo¹  Risa Kanatani²  Toyoyuki Kato³  Takashi Shirasaka³  Tsukasa Kojima⁴ 

[1] Department of Health Sciences, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan;Department of Health Sciences, School of Medical Sciences, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan;Department of Radiology, Saiseikai Fukuoka General Hospital, Fukuoka, Japan;Division of Radiology, Department of Medical Technology, Kyushu University Hospital, Fukuoka, Japan;Division of Radiology, Department of Medical Technology, Kyushu University Hospital, Fukuoka, Japan;Department of Health Sciences, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan;

关键词: Iodine;    Phantoms (imaging);    Tomography (x-ray, computed);    x-rays;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s41747-021-00217-1

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

In this study, we investigated the influence of beam hardening on the dual-energy computed tomography (DECT) values of iodine maps, virtual monoenergetic (VME) images, and virtual non-contrast (VNC) images. 320-row DECT imaging was performed by changing the x-ray tube energy for the first and second rotations. DECT values of 5 mg/mL iodine of the multi-energy CT phantom were compared with and without a 2-mm-thick attenuation rubber layer (~700 HU) wound around the phantom. It was found that the CT density values UH, with/without the rubber layer had statistical differences in the iodine map (184 ± 0.7 versus 186 ± 1.8), VME images (125 ± 0.3 versus 110 ± 0.4), and VNC images (−58 ± 0.7 versus −76 ± 1.7) (p < 0.010 for all). This suggests that iodine mapping may be underestimated by DECT and overestimated by VME imaging because of x-ray beam hardening. The use of VNC images instead of plain CT images requires further investigation because of underestimation.

【 授权许可】

CC BY