Recently, there have been several physics and clinical studies on the use of lower tube potentials in CT imaging, with the purpose of improving image quality or further reducing radiation dose. We investigated an experimental study using a series of different sized, polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) phantoms, demonstrating the potential strategy for dose reduction and to distinguish component of plaque by imaging their energy responses using CT. We investigated the relationship between different sizes of cylinderic PMMA-equivalent phantoms with diameter of 12, 16, 20, 24, and 32 cm and used contrast at various tube voltages (80, 100, 120, and 140 kVp) using a 16–detector row CT scanner. The contrast represented CT numbers as different materials for the water, calcium chloride, and iodine. Phantom insertions also allow quantitative measures of image noise, contrast, contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) and figure of merit (FOM). When evaluating FOM, it was found that the lower kVp provided the better CNR. An experimental study was performed to demonstrate reduced dose for both dose efficient and practical feasibility for different patient sizes and diagnostic tasks by relating achievable CNR and the volume CT dose index (CTDI_vol). The use of spectra optimized to the specific application could provide further improvements of distinguishing iodine, calcium and plaque component for patient size. The purpose of this study was to evaluate variations in image noise and contrast using different tube potentials in a CTDI phantom on contrast imaging.

Date Published: 18 March 2015
PDF: 6 pages
Proc. SPIE 9412, Medical Imaging 2015: Physics of Medical Imaging, 94124J (18 March 2015); doi: 10.1117/12.2082251

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 9412:
Medical Imaging 2015: Physics of Medical Imaging
Christoph Hoeschen; Despina Kontos, Editor(s)