Tóth Adrienn, Chamberlin Jordan H, Smith Carter D, Maisuria Dhruw, McGuire Aaron M, Schoepf U Joseph, O'Doherty Jim, Munden Reginald F, Burt Jeremy, Baruah Dhiraj, Kabakus Ismail M
Department of Radiology and Radiological Science, Divisions of Cardiovascular and Thoracic Imaging, Medical University of South Carolina. Charleston, SC.
Department of Radiology and Imaging Sciences, Divisions of Cardiovascular and Thoracic Imaging, University of Utah. Salt Lake City, UT.
J Comput Assist Tomogr. 2025;49(3):456-461. doi: 10.1097/RCT.0000000000001694. Epub 2024 Nov 18.
The latest generation of computed tomography (CT) systems based on photon-counting detector promises significant improvements in several clinical applications, including chest imaging.
The aim of the study is to evaluate the image quality of ultra-high-resolution (UHR) photon-counting detector CT (PCD-CT) of the lung using four sharp reconstruction kernels.
This retrospective study included 25 patients (11 women and 14 men; median age, 71 years) who underwent unenhanced chest CT from April to May 2023. Images were acquired in UHR mode on a clinical dual-source PCD-CT scanner and reconstructed with four sharp kernels (Bl64, Br76, Br84, Br96). Quantitative image analysis included the measurement of image noise, and the calculation of signal-to-noise ratio, and contrast-to-noise ratio. Two radiologists independently rated the images on a 5-point Likert scale for image sharpness, image noise, overall image quality, and airway details. The 4 image sets were compared pairwise in the statistical analysis.
Image noise was lowest for Br76 (74.16 ± 22.05, P < 0.001). Signal-to-noise ratio was significantly higher in the Br76 images (13.34 ± 3.47), than in the other 3 image sets (all P < 0.001). The Br76 images demonstrated the highest contrast-to-noise ratio among all reconstructions (1.54 ± 0.86, all P < 0.001). Subjective image sharpness, image noise, overall image quality, and airway detail were best in the Br76 images (all P < 0.001 to P < 0.01, for both readers).
The use of the Br76 reconstruction kernel provided the best quantitative and qualitative image quality for UHR PCD-CT of the lungs.
基于光子计数探测器的最新一代计算机断层扫描（CT）系统有望在包括胸部成像在内的多种临床应用中实现显著改进。
本研究旨在使用四种锐利重建核评估肺部超高分辨率（UHR）光子计数探测器CT（PCD-CT）的图像质量。
这项回顾性研究纳入了25例患者（11名女性和14名男性；中位年龄71岁），这些患者于2023年4月至5月接受了非增强胸部CT检查。在临床双源PCD-CT扫描仪上以UHR模式采集图像，并用四种锐利核（Bl64、Br76、Br84、Br96）进行重建。定量图像分析包括图像噪声测量、信噪比计算和对比噪声比计算。两名放射科医生独立使用5点李克特量表对图像的清晰度、图像噪声、整体图像质量和气道细节进行评分。在统计分析中对这4组图像进行两两比较。
Br76的图像噪声最低（74.16±22.05，P<0.001）。Br76图像的信噪比（13.34±3.47）显著高于其他3组图像（所有P<0.001）。Br76图像在所有重建图像中显示出最高的对比噪声比（1.54±0.86，所有P<0.001）。主观图像清晰度、图像噪声、整体图像质量和气道细节在Br76图像中最佳（两位读者的所有P值均在<0.001至<0.01之间）。
使用Br76重建核可为肺部UHR PCD-CT提供最佳的定量和定性图像质量。
