Contribution of photon counting CT to the detectability of lung nodules using ultra-low dose CT protocols: a phantom study

IF 2.7 3区医学 Q1 RADIOLOGY, NUCLEAR MEDICINE & MEDICAL IMAGING

Physica Medica-European Journal of Medical Physics Pub Date : 2025-09-23 DOI:10.1016/j.ejmp.2025.105180

Joël Greffier , Isabelle Fitton , Fabien de Oliveira , Kim Diep Dang Tran , Jean-Paul Beregi , Cédric Croisille , Djamel Dabli , Claire Van Ngoc Ty

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Purpose

To compare the image quality obtained with an energy-integrating detector CT (EID-CT) and a photon-counting CT (PCCT) in ultra-low dose (ULD) chest CT protocols for three patient morphology configurations.

Materials and methods

ULD-CT acquisitions were performed at Sn100 kV on PCCT and EID-CT using an image quality phantom. Different phantom sections were used to simulate standard, overweight and obese patients and the ULD levels were adapted to each section: 0.4, 0.8 and 1.6 mGy, respectively. Noise power spectrum (NPS) and task-based transfer function (TTF) were computed to assess noise magnitude, noise texture and spatial resolution, respectively. Detectability indexes (d′) were computed to model the detection of a high-contrast solid nodule (HCN).

Results

At all dose levels, noise magnitude values were significantly lower with PCCT than with EID-CT (−8.9 ± 0.4 %; p < 0.05). Values of average NPS spatial frequencies were significantly higher (p < 0.05) with PCCT (0.446 ± 0.010 mm⁻¹) than with EID-CT mode (0.323 ± 0.011 mm⁻¹). For the air insert, TTF values at 50 % were significantly lower for PCCT (0.719 ± 0.045 mm⁻¹) than with EID-CT (0.916 ± 0.030 mm⁻¹) at 1.6 mGy but similar for other dose levels (p < 0.05). For the simulated chest lesion, d′ values were significantly higher (p < 0.05) with PCCT than with EID-CT. The improvements in d′ values was 23.6 ± 5.5 % for HCN.

Conclusion

Compared with EID-CT, using PCCT makes it possible to reduce noise, improve noise texture and, above all, improve the detection of simulated high-contrast thoracic lesion in ULD CT protocols.

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光子计数CT对超低剂量CT检测肺结节的贡献：一项幻象研究

目的比较能量积分检测器CT （EID-CT）和光子计数CT （PCCT）在超低剂量（ULD）胸部CT方案下对三种患者形态配置的图像质量。材料和方法在PCCT和EID-CT上使用图像质量幻象在Sn100 kV下进行suld - ct采集。使用不同的幻影切片来模拟标准、超重和肥胖患者，每个切片的ULD水平分别为0.4、0.8和1.6 mGy。计算噪声功率谱（NPS）和基于任务的传递函数（TTF），分别评估噪声强度、噪声纹理和空间分辨率。计算可检测性指数（d '）来模拟高对比实体结节（HCN）的检测。结果在所有剂量水平下，PCCT的噪声值均显著低于EID-CT（- 8.9±0.4%;p < 0.05）。PCCT模式的平均NPS空间频率值（0.446±0.010 mm−1）显著高于EID-CT模式（0.323±0.011 mm−1）（p < 0.05）。对于空气插入，PCCT在50%时的TTF值（0.719±0.045 mm−1）显著低于EID-CT在1.6 mGy时的TTF值（0.916±0.030 mm−1），但其他剂量水平相似（p < 0.05）。对于模拟胸部病变，PCCT的d′值显著高于EID-CT （p < 0.05）。HCN的d′值改善为23.6±5.5%。结论与EID-CT相比，使用PCCT可以降低噪声，改善噪声纹理，最重要的是提高了ULD CT方案对模拟高对比胸部病变的检测。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Physica Medica-European Journal of Medical Physics 生物-生物物理

CiteScore

6.80

自引率

14.70%

发文量

493

审稿时长

78 days

期刊介绍： Physica Medica, European Journal of Medical Physics, publishing with Elsevier from 2007, provides an international forum for research and reviews on the following main topics: Medical Imaging Radiation Therapy Radiation Protection Measuring Systems and Signal Processing Education and training in Medical Physics Professional issues in Medical Physics.