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Published in: European Radiology 11/2014

01-11-2014 | Chest

Reducing radiation dose in the diagnosis of pulmonary embolism using adaptive statistical iterative reconstruction and lower tube potential in computed tomography

Authors: David Kaul, Ulrich Grupp, Johannes Kahn, Pirus Ghadjar, Edzard Wiener, Bernd Hamm, Florian Streitparth

Published in: European Radiology | Issue 11/2014

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Abstract

Objectives

To assess the impact of ASIR (adaptive statistical iterative reconstruction) and lower tube potential on dose reduction and image quality in chest computed tomography angiographies (CTAs) of patients with pulmonary embolism.

Materials and methods

CT data from 44 patients with pulmonary embolism were acquired using different protocols—Group A: 120 kV, filtered back projection, n = 12; Group B: 120 kV, 40 % ASIR, n = 12; Group C: 100 kV, 40 % ASIR, n = 12 and Group D: 80 kV, 40 % ASIR, n = 8. Normalised effective dose was calculated; image quality was assessed quantitatively and qualitatively.

Results

Normalised effective dose in Group B was 33.8 % lower than in Group A (p = 0.014) and 54.4 % lower in Group C than in Group A (p < 0.001). Group A, B and C did not show significant differences in qualitative or quantitative analysis of image quality. Group D showed significantly higher noise levels in qualitative and quantitative analysis, significantly more artefacts and decreased overall diagnosability. Best results, considering dose reduction and image quality, were achieved in Group C.

Conclusions

The combination of ASIR and lower tube potential is an option to reduce radiation without significant worsening of image quality in the diagnosis of pulmonary embolism.

Key Points

Iterative algorithms and lowering of tube potential reduce radiation without compromising interpretability
40 % ASIR and 100 kV tube potential led to a 54.4 % dose reduction
40 % ASIR and 80 kV tube potential led to significantly worse image quality
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Metadata
Title
Reducing radiation dose in the diagnosis of pulmonary embolism using adaptive statistical iterative reconstruction and lower tube potential in computed tomography
Authors
David Kaul
Ulrich Grupp
Johannes Kahn
Pirus Ghadjar
Edzard Wiener
Bernd Hamm
Florian Streitparth
Publication date
01-11-2014
Publisher
Springer Berlin Heidelberg
Published in
European Radiology / Issue 11/2014
Print ISSN: 0938-7994
Electronic ISSN: 1432-1084
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00330-014-3290-y

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