P Lv1, J Liu1, R Wu2, P Hou1, L Hu1, J Gao3. 1. Department of Radiology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, Henan Province, China. 2. Siemens Healthcare China, Beijing, China. 3. Department of Radiology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, Henan Province, China. Electronic address: jianbogao0307@163.com.
Abstract
AIM: To evaluate the image quality of dual-energy abdominal computed tomography (DECT) angiography (CTA) with a non-linear image blending technique as compared with the linear image blending technique and standard single-energy CT (SECT; 120 kVp SECT) imaging. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Thirty-two patients underwent dual-source, dual-energy abdominal CTA (80 kVp/140 kVp mode) in the arterial phase to generate non-linear image blending and 0.5 linear image blending images. Abdominal vessel enhancement, image noise, signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) were evaluated and compared to the conventional 120 kVp SECT image sets (n = 29) using repeated-measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) with Bonferroni adjustment. Two radiologists assessed subjective vessel enhancement in consensus. The effective dose was calculated and compared using Student's t-test. RESULTS: The non-linear image blending images were ranked highest (over 0.5 linear image blending and 120 kVp SECT images) regarding mean vascular attenuation, CNR, SNR, and subjective image quality evaluation (p-values ranging from <0.001-0.021). However, there was no significant difference in renal artery branch visualization among the three sets of images (p = 0.405). Linear image blending images showed improved vascular attenuation (p = 0.011) as compared with 120 kVp SECT images, but displayed similar results regarding CNRs (p = 0.045) and SNRs (p = 0.053). The effective radiation dose for the DECT protocol was much lower than the SECT protocol (p = 0.004). CONCLUSION: The non-linear image blending technique of 80 kVp/140 kVp DECT improved vascular visualization by improving contrast enhancement in abdominal CTA during the arterial phase.
AIM: To evaluate the image quality of dual-energy abdominal computed tomography (DECT) angiography (CTA) with a non-linear image blending technique as compared with the linear image blending technique and standard single-energy CT (SECT; 120 kVp SECT) imaging. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Thirty-two patients underwent dual-source, dual-energy abdominal CTA (80 kVp/140 kVp mode) in the arterial phase to generate non-linear image blending and 0.5 linear image blending images. Abdominal vessel enhancement, image noise, signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) were evaluated and compared to the conventional 120 kVp SECT image sets (n = 29) using repeated-measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) with Bonferroni adjustment. Two radiologists assessed subjective vessel enhancement in consensus. The effective dose was calculated and compared using Student's t-test. RESULTS: The non-linear image blending images were ranked highest (over 0.5 linear image blending and 120 kVp SECT images) regarding mean vascular attenuation, CNR, SNR, and subjective image quality evaluation (p-values ranging from <0.001-0.021). However, there was no significant difference in renal artery branch visualization among the three sets of images (p = 0.405). Linear image blending images showed improved vascular attenuation (p = 0.011) as compared with 120 kVp SECT images, but displayed similar results regarding CNRs (p = 0.045) and SNRs (p = 0.053). The effective radiation dose for the DECT protocol was much lower than the SECT protocol (p = 0.004). CONCLUSION: The non-linear image blending technique of 80 kVp/140 kVp DECT improved vascular visualization by improving contrast enhancement in abdominal CTA during the arterial phase.