Image quality of opportunistic breast examinations in photon-counting computed tomography: a phantom study
Purpose - To compare the breast imaging performance of a clinical whole-body photon-counting CT (PCCT) to that of a dedicated breast CT (BCT) to determine the image quality of opportunistic breast examinations in clinical PCCT. - Materials and methods - To quantify image quality for breast cancer ap...
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| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article (Journal) |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
June 2024
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| In: |
Physica medica
Year: 2024, Volume: 122, Pages: 1-7 |
| ISSN: | 1724-191X |
| DOI: | 10.1016/j.ejmp.2024.103378 |
| Online Access: | Verlag, kostenfrei, Volltext: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejmp.2024.103378 Verlag, kostenfrei, Volltext: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S112017972400173X 
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| Author Notes: | S. Sawall, E. Baader, J. Wolf, J. Maier, H.-P. Schlemmer, S.O. Schönberg, I. Sechopoulos, M. Kachelrieß |
| Summary: | Purpose - To compare the breast imaging performance of a clinical whole-body photon-counting CT (PCCT) to that of a dedicated breast CT (BCT) to determine the image quality of opportunistic breast examinations in clinical PCCT. - Materials and methods - To quantify image quality for breast cancer applications, acquisitions of a breast phantom including representations of calcifications, fibers, and masses were performed using a clinical PCCT and a dedicated BCT. When imaging with the PCCT, the phantom was also combined with a thorax phantom to simulate realistic patient positioning, while only the breast phantom was imaged in the BCT. Images in BCT were acquired at 7.0 mGy (CTDI16cm) and using 2.6 mGy-25.0 mGy in the PCCT. Spatial resolution between the BCT and PCCT images was matched and data were reconstructed using the default methods of each system. The dose-normalized contrast-to-noise ratio (CNRD) of masses and the structural visibility of fibers and calcifications were evaluated as figures of merit for all reconstructions. - Results - CNRD between masses and background was 0.56 mGy-½, on average with BCT and varied between 0.39 mGy-½ to 1.46 mGy-½ with PCCT over all dose levels, phantom configurations, and reconstruction algorithms. Calcifications down to a size of 0.29 mm and fibers down to a size of 0.23 mm could be reliably identified in the images of both systems. - Conclusions - Clinical PCCT provides an image quality superior to that obtained with BCT in terms of CNRD and allows for the identification of calcifications and fibers at comparable dose levels. |
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| Item Description: | Online verfügbar: 25. Mai 2024 Gesehen am 25.11.2024 |
| Physical Description: | Online Resource |
| ISSN: | 1724-191X |
| DOI: | 10.1016/j.ejmp.2024.103378 |