Dose reduction techniques in coronary calcium scoring: the effect of iterative reconstruction combined with low tube voltage on calcium scores in a thoracic phantom
Objectives: To define a dose-reduced coronary calcium CT protocol that provides similar calcium score values as a conventional 120kVp protocol. Methods: A thorax phantom containing 100 calcifications was scanned with the reference protocol (120kVp, 90 ref mAs, FBP) and 30 dose-reduced protocols (70-...
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| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article (Journal) |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
4 June 2017
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| In: |
European journal of radiology
Year: 2017, Volume: 93, Pages: 229-235 |
| ISSN: | 1872-7727 |
| DOI: | 10.1016/j.ejrad.2017.06.001 |
| Online Access: | Verlag, Volltext: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ejrad.2017.06.001 Verlag, Volltext: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0720048X17302334 
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| Author Notes: | Marleen Vonder, Gert Jan Pelgrim, Mathias Meyer, Thomas Henzler, Matthijs Oudkerk, Rozemarijn Vliegenthart |
| Summary: | Objectives: To define a dose-reduced coronary calcium CT protocol that provides similar calcium score values as a conventional 120kVp protocol. Methods: A thorax phantom containing 100 calcifications was scanned with the reference protocol (120kVp, 90 ref mAs, FBP) and 30 dose-reduced protocols (70-110kVp, 90 ref mAs, FBP and iterative reconstruction (IR) levels 1-5) with 3rd generation dual-source CT. For protocols that yielded similar detectability and calcium scores as the reference protocol, additional scans were acquired at reduced ref mAs. Kendall’s τb and independent-samples-median test were used to determine trends and differences in contrast/signal-to-noise ratio (CNR and SNR), dose and calcium scores. Results: The detectability and calcium scores decreased at increasing IR levels (τb<−0.825, p<0.001) and increasing tube voltage (τb<−0.679, p<0.001). For 90kVp-IR3 and 100kVp-IR1, similar detectability and calcium score was found compared to the reference protocol (p>0.206). For these protocols, lower tube currents did not affect the detectability and Agatston score (p>0.206), while CNR and SNR were similar/higher compared to the reference protocol (0.008<p<0.206). Dose reduction was 60.6% (90kVp-IR3) and 43.6% (100kVp-IR1). Conclusions: The protocol of 90kVp-IR3 and 100kVp-IR1 yielded similar calcium detectability, Agatston score and image quality as the reference protocol, with dose reduction up to 60.6%. |
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| Item Description: | Available online 4 June 2017 Gesehen am 16.07.2018 |
| Physical Description: | Online Resource |
| ISSN: | 1872-7727 |
| DOI: | 10.1016/j.ejrad.2017.06.001 |