Efficiency of Low-tube Voltage Protocols Combined with Iodine Contrast Reduction and Hybrid Iterative Reconstruction Techniques for Abdominal Computed Tomography: a Study in Patients
Keywords:
iodine contrast agent, abdominal computed tomography (CT), low-tube voltage, iterative reconstructionAbstract
This research aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of a newly developed protocol, incorporating lowtube voltage and iodine contrast reduction, along with hybrid iterative reconstruction, for abdominal computed tomography (CT) in Thai patients of small, medium, and large body sizes. A total of 105 patients underwent imaging using a GE Revolution CT scanner with dual-energy capabilities, employing tube voltages of 80 kV, 100 kV, and 120 kV for small, medium, and large body sizes, respectively. These were compared to a reference protocol using 120 kV, with a reduction in contrast agent volume by a percentage of 15.03%, 8.55% and 5.15%, respectively. The research revealed that the developed protocol significantly reduced the CTDIvol by 55.14%, 39.43%, and 28.16% in the small, medium, and large patient groups, respectively. While quantitative image quality metrics were lower than the reference protocol in the small patient group, qualitative assessments of image clarity by three radiologists, generating Visual Grading Characteristics (VGC), showed that the developed protocol provided comparable image quality in the small and large patient groups (AUC=0.5) and superior image quality in the medium patient group (AUC >0.5). Thus, the developed protocol demonstrates suitability for clinical application.
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