Division of Emergency Radiology, Brigham and Women's Hospital Department of Radiology, Boston, MA, USA.
Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
Emerg Radiol. 2021 Feb;28(1):103-117. doi: 10.1007/s10140-020-01785-2. Epub 2020 Jun 1.
Dual energy computed tomography (DECT), also known as spectral CT, refers to advanced CT technology that separately acquires high and low energy X-ray data to enable material characterization applications for substances that exhibit different energy-dependent x-ray absorption behavior. DECT supports a variety of post-processing applications that add value in routine clinical CT imaging, including material selective and virtual non-contrast images using two- and three-material decomposition algorithms, virtual monoenergetic imaging, and other material characterization techniques. Following a review of acquisition and post-processing techniques, we present a case-based approach to highlight the added value of DECT in common clinical scenarios. These scenarios include improved lesion detection, improved lesion characterization, improved ease of interpretation, improved prognostication, inherently more robust imaging protocols to account for unexpected pathology or suboptimal contrast opacification, length of stay reduction, reduced utilization by avoiding unnecessary follow-up examinations, and radiation dose reduction. A brief discussion of post-processing workflow approaches, challenges, and solutions is also included.
双能量 CT（DECT），又称能谱 CT，是一种先进的 CT 技术，它分别采集高低能 X 射线数据，以实现对表现出不同能量依赖性 X 射线吸收行为的物质进行物质特征分析的应用。DECT 支持多种后处理应用，为常规临床 CT 成像增加价值，包括使用双物质和三物质分解算法的材料选择性和虚拟非对比图像、虚拟单能量成像和其他物质特征分析技术。在回顾采集和后处理技术后，我们采用基于病例的方法来突出 DECT 在常见临床情况下的附加价值。这些情况包括提高病变检测的灵敏度、改善病变的特征分析、提高诊断的易读性、改善预后、固有地更稳健的成像方案以应对意外的病理变化或对比剂充盈不佳、减少住院时间、通过避免不必要的随访检查来减少使用、降低辐射剂量。还简要讨论了后处理工作流程方法、挑战和解决方案。
