SU‐E‐I‐81: Assessment of CT Radiation Dose and Image Quality for An Automated Tube Potential Selection Algorithm Using Adult Anthropomorphic and ACR Phantoms

Abstract

Purpose:To assess the impact of General Electrics (GE) automated tube potential algorithm, kV assist (kVa) on radiation dose and image quality, with an emphasis on optimizing protocols based on noise texture.Methods:Radiation dose was assessed by inserting optically stimulated luminescence dosimeters (OSLs) throughout the body of an adult anthropomorphic phantom (CIRS). The baseline protocol was: 120 kVp, Auto mA (180 to 380 mA), noise index (NI) = 14, adaptive iterative statistical reconstruction (ASiR) of 20%, 0.8s rotation time. Image quality was evaluated by calculating the contrast to noise ratio (CNR) and noise power spectrum (NPS) from the ACR CT accreditation phantom. CNRs were calculated according to the steps described in ACR CT phantom testing document. NPS was determined by taking the 3D FFT of the uniformity section of the ACR phantom. NPS and CNR were evaluated with and without kVa and for all available adaptive iterative statistical reconstruction (ASiR) settings, ranging from 0 to 100%. Each NPS was also evaluated for its peak frequency difference (PFD) with respect to the baseline protocol.Results:The CNR for the adult male was found to decrease from CNR = 0.912 ± 0.045 for the baseline protocol without kVa to a CNR = 0.756 ± 0.049 with kVa activated. When compared against the baseline protocol, the PFD at ASiR of 40% yielded a decrease in noise magnitude as realized by the increase in CNR = 0.903 ± 0.023. The difference in the central liver dose with and without kVa was found to be 0.07%.Conclusion:Dose reduction was insignificant in the adult phantom. As determined by NPS analysis, ASiR of 40% produced images with similar noise texture to the baseline protocol. However, the CNR at ASiR of 40% with kVa fails to meet the current ACR CNR passing requirement of 1.0.