Back to Search Start Over

Advanced Virtual Monoenergetic Imaging: Improvement of Visualization and Differentiation of Intramuscular Lesions in Portal-Venous-phase Contrast-enhanced Dual-energy CT

Advanced Virtual Monoenergetic Imaging: Improvement of Visualization and Differentiation of Intramuscular Lesions in Portal-Venous-phase Contrast-enhanced Dual-energy CT

Authors :
Lena S. Kiefer
Mareen Sarah Kraus
Nadja Selo
Michael Esser
Fabian Bamberg
Julian L. Wichmann
Jakob Weiss
Ahmed E. Othman
Omar M. Albtoush
Source :
Academic Radiology. 26:1457-1465
Publication Year :
2019
Publisher :
Elsevier BV, 2019.

Abstract

Purpose To evaluate the effect of advanced monoenergetic imaging (MEI+) postprocessing algorithm on the visualization of various intramuscular lesions on portal-venous-phase contrast-enhanced dual-energy computed tomography (DECT). Material and Methods Thirty-nine patients (64.3 ± 11.1 years; 26 males) with various intramuscular lesions ranging from malignancy, bleeding, inflammation, edematous changes, and benign neoplasms were included and underwent DECT (100/Sn150kV). Postprocessing with MEI+ technique was used to reconstruct images at four different keV levels (40, 60, 80, 100) and compared to the standard portal-venous-phase CT (CTpv) images. Image quality was assessed qualitatively (conspicuity, delineation, sharpness, noise, and confidence) by two independent readers using 5-point Likert scales, 5 = excellent; as well as quantitatively by calculating signal-to-noise ratios (SNR), contrast-to-noise ratios (CNR), and area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve (AUC) for lesion characterization. Results Highest lesion enhancement and diagnostic confidence were observed in MEI+ 40 keV, with significant differences to CTpv (p Conclusion MEI+ at low keV levels can significantly improve lesion detection of benign versus malignant intramuscular entities in patients undergoing portal-venous-phase DECT scans due to increased CNR.

Details

ISSN :
10766332
Volume :
26
Database :
OpenAIRE
Journal :
Academic Radiology
Accession number :
edsair.doi.dedup.....daa8dd29acaddd9a01140f09fd31fe97
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.acra.2019.02.014