Abstract
AIM: Compare effect of soft kernel (SK) and 30% adaptive statistical iterative reconstruction (ASIR) and standard kernel (StK) techniques on image quality. Materials and Methods: Three radiologists blinded to the type of reconstruction kernel used, independently reviewed 2.5mm-thick- axial abdominal CT-scans performed for 66-randomly selected patients, optimized for oncologic imaging. The filtered-back-projection images were reconstructed using: SK, ASIR 30% and StK. The Contrast to noise ratio (CNRs) and Signal to noise ration (SNRs) were calculated. The visibility and sharpness of abdominal structures were rated (qualitatively) . Summary of pair-wise comparisons among series for CNRs and SNRs were performed. Estimates and standard-error were based on a linear mixed model. P values were adjusted using the Tukey-Kramer method to control overall type I error rate. Results: Image series reconstructed with SK or ASIR had higher CNRs than those with StK alone ( P < .009 and .002, respectively). Qualitatively images reconstructed with ASIR or SK were better than with the StK ( P < .05). SK produced significantly fewer artifacts than ASIR 30%. There was no difference in the SNR among series. Conclusion: Images reconstructed with SK or ASIR had better image quality than StK. Scanners that cannot use ASIR may benefit from using the SK technique to improve image quality. Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:Table Normal; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-parent:; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;}
Highlights
The widespread use of computed tomography (CT) has led to an increase in radiation exposure[1] and to a possible increased risk of carcinogenesis[ . 2,3] Owing to radiation dose concerns associated with CT, several efforts have been made in the radiology community to reduce radiation dose without compromising the quality of diagnostic information[4]
Qualitative Assessment On the basis of model estimates, CT images reconstructed with the adaptive statistical iterative reconstruction (ASIR) 30% and soft kernel (SK) techniques were significantly better compared to the standard kernel (StK) technique for assessment of abdominal structures (Figure 1), for the visualization/conspicuity of various abdominal structures (Figure 2) and for image contrast (Figure 3)
The SK and StK techniques produced significantly fewer minor artifacts than did the ASIR 30% (P =.0001) (Fig 3)
Summary
The widespread use of computed tomography (CT) has led to an increase in radiation exposure[1] and to a possible increased risk of carcinogenesis[ . 2,3] Owing to radiation dose concerns associated with CT, several efforts have been made in the radiology community to reduce radiation dose without compromising the quality of diagnostic information[4]. 2,3] Owing to radiation dose concerns associated with CT, several efforts have been made in the radiology community to reduce radiation dose without compromising the quality of diagnostic information[4] These efforts include lowering the tube current–time product; using automatic exposure control; reducing the peak kilovoltage; using a higher pitch; and shielding radiosensitive organs such as the breast, thyroid, and lenses of the eye[4]. Decreasing the tube current (dose) can lead to suboptimal or non-diagnostic studies, unless countermeasures to decrease image noise are taken[4] For this reason, researchers and CT manufacturers have sought to provide ways to decrease image noise that would permit more aggressive reduction of radiation dose, while maintaining diagnostically acceptable image quality[5,6,7,8]. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effect of SK on image quality compared to ASIR 30% and StK techniques
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