Korean Journal of Radiology

The Korean Society of Radiology (대한영상의학회)
권호 표지
DOI QR코드

DOI QR Code

Quantitative Image Quality and Histogram-Based Evaluations of an Iterative Reconstruction Algorithm at Low-to-Ultralow Radiation Dose Levels: A Phantom Study in Chest CT

  • Lee, Ki Baek (Department of Radiology and Research Institute of Radiology, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Asan Medical Center) ;
  • Goo, Hyun Woo (Department of Radiology and Research Institute of Radiology, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Asan Medical Center)
  • Received : 2017.03.14
  • Accepted : 2017.06.28
  • Published : 2018.02.01
⟨ Previous Next ⟩

Abstract

Objective: To describe the quantitative image quality and histogram-based evaluation of an iterative reconstruction (IR) algorithm in chest computed tomography (CT) scans at low-to-ultralow CT radiation dose levels. Materials and Methods: In an adult anthropomorphic phantom, chest CT scans were performed with 128-section dual-source CT at 70, 80, 100, 120, and 140 kVp, and the reference (3.4 mGy in volume CT Dose Index [$CTDI_{vol}$]), 30%-, 60%-, and 90%-reduced radiation dose levels (2.4, 1.4, and 0.3 mGy). The CT images were reconstructed by using filtered back projection (FBP) algorithms and IR algorithm with strengths 1, 3, and 5. Image noise, signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), and contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) were statistically compared between different dose levels, tube voltages, and reconstruction algorithms. Moreover, histograms of subtraction images before and after standardization in x- and y-axes were visually compared. Results: Compared with FBP images, IR images with strengths 1, 3, and 5 demonstrated image noise reduction up to 49.1%, SNR increase up to 100.7%, and CNR increase up to 67.3%. Noteworthy image quality degradations on IR images including a 184.9% increase in image noise, 63.0% decrease in SNR, and 51.3% decrease in CNR, and were shown between 60% and 90% reduced levels of radiation dose (p < 0.0001). Subtraction histograms between FBP and IR images showed progressively increased dispersion with increased IR strength and increased dose reduction. After standardization, the histograms appeared deviated and ragged between FBP images and IR images with strength 3 or 5, but almost normally-distributed between FBP images and IR images with strength 1. Conclusion: The IR algorithm may be used to save radiation doses without substantial image quality degradation in chest CT scanning of the adult anthropomorphic phantom, down to approximately 1.4 mGy in $CTDI_{vol}$ (60% reduced dose).

Keywords

References

  1. Brenner DJ, Hall EJ. Computed tomography--an increasing source of radiation exposure. N Engl J Med 2007;357:2277-2284 https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMra072149
  2. Kalra MK, Maher MM, Toth TL, Hamberg LM, Blake MA, Shepard JA, et al. Strategies for CT radiation dose optimization. Radiology 2004;230:619-628 https://doi.org/10.1148/radiol.2303021726
  3. McCollough CH, Bruesewitz MR, Kofler JM Jr. CT dose reduction and dose management tools: overview of available options. Radiographics 2006;26:503-512 https://doi.org/10.1148/rg.262055138
  4. Goo HW. CT radiation dose optimization and estimation: an update for radiologists. Korean J Radiol 2012;13:1-11 https://doi.org/10.3348/kjr.2012.13.1.1
  5. Gunn ML, Kohr JR. State of the art: technologies for computed tomography dose reduction. Emerg Radiol 2010;17:209-218 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10140-009-0850-6
  6. Beister M, Kolditz D, Kalender WA. Iterative reconstruction methods in X-ray CT. Phys Med 2012;28:94-108 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejmp.2012.01.003
  7. Fleischmann D, Boas FE. Computed tomography--old ideas and new technology. Eur Radiol 2011;21:510-517 https://doi.org/10.1007/s00330-011-2056-z
  8. Leipsic J, Heilbron BG, Hague C. Iterative reconstruction for coronary CT angiography: finding its way. Int J Cardiovasc Imaging 2012;28:613-620 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10554-011-9832-3
  9. Noél PB, Fingerle AA, Renger B, Münzel D, Rummeny EJ, Dobritz M. Initial performance characterization of a clinical noise-suppressing reconstruction algorithm for MDCT. AJR Am J Roentgenol 2011;197:1404-1409 https://doi.org/10.2214/AJR.11.6907
  10. Winklehner A, Karlo C, Puippe G, Schmidt B, Flohr T, Goetti R, et al. Raw data-based iterative reconstruction in body CTA: evaluation of radiation dose saving potential. Eur Radiol 2011;21:2521-2526 https://doi.org/10.1007/s00330-011-2227-y
  11. Moscariello A, Takx RA, Schoepf UJ, Renker M, Zwerner PL, O’Brien TX, et al. Coronary CT angiography: image quality, diagnostic accuracy, and potential for radiation dose reduction using a novel iterative image reconstruction techniquecomparison with traditional filtered back projection. Eur Radiol 2011;21:2130-2138 https://doi.org/10.1007/s00330-011-2164-9
  12. Kalra MK, Woisetschlager M, Dahlström N, Singh S, Lindblom M, Choy G, et al. Radiation dose reduction with sinogram affirmed iterative reconstruction technique for abdominal computed tomography. J Comput Assist Tomogr 2012;36:339-346 https://doi.org/10.1097/RCT.0b013e31825586c0
  13. Tricarico F, Hlavacek AM, Schoepf UJ, Ebersberger U, Nance JW Jr, Vliegenthart R, et al. Cardiovascular CT angiography in neonates and children: image quality and potential for radiation dose reduction with iterative image reconstruction techniques. Eur Radiol 2013;23:1306-1315 https://doi.org/10.1007/s00330-012-2734-5
  14. Goo HW, Yang DH, Hong SJ, Yu J, Kim BJ, Seo JB, et al. Xenon ventilation CT using dual-source and dual-energy technique in children with bronchiolitis obliterans: correlation of xenon and CT density values with pulmonary function test results. Pediatr Radiol 2010;40:1490-1497 https://doi.org/10.1007/s00247-010-1645-3
  15. Whyne C, Hardisty M, Wu F, Skrinskas T, Clemons M, Gordon L, et al. Quantitative characterization of metastatic disease in the spine. Part II. Histogram-based analyses. Med Phys 2007;34:3279-3285 https://doi.org/10.1118/1.2756939
  16. Chen X, Schott D, Song Y, Li D, Hall W, Erickson B, et al. SUF-R-50: Radiation-induced changes in CT number histogram during chemoradiation therapy for pancreatic cancer. Med phys 2016;43:3384
  17. Goo HW. Individualized volume CT dose index determined by cross-sectional area and mean density of the body to achieve uniform image noise of contrast-enhanced pediatric chest CT obtained at variable kV levels and with combined tube current modulation. Pediatr Radiol 2011;41:839-847 https://doi.org/10.1007/s00247-011-2121-4
  18. Schabel C, Fenchel M, Schmidt B, Flohr TG, Wuerslin C, Thomas C, et al. Clinical evaluation and potential radiation dose reduction of the novel sinogram-affirmed iterative reconstruction technique (SAFIRE) in abdominal computed tomography angiography. Acad Radiol 2013;20:165-172 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.acra.2012.08.015
  19. Kim H, Park CM, Chae HD, Lee SM, Goo JM. Impact of radiation dose and iterative reconstruction on pulmonary nodule measurements at chest CT: a phantom study. Diagn Interv Radiol 2015;21:459-465 https://doi.org/10.5152/dir.2015.14541
  20. Higuchi K, Nagao M, Matsuo Y, Sunami S, Kamitani T, Jinnouchi M, et al. Detection of ground-glass opacities by use of hybrid iterative reconstruction (iDose) and low-dose 256-section computed tomography: a phantom study. Radiol Phys Technol 2013;6:299-304 https://doi.org/10.1007/s12194-013-0200-y
  21. Kalra MK, Woisetschläger M, Dahlström N, Singh S, Digumarthy S, Do S, et al. Sinogram-affirmed iterative reconstruction of low-dose chest CT: effect on image quality and radiation dose. AJR Am J Roentgenol 2013;201:W235-W244 https://doi.org/10.2214/AJR.13.11211
  22. Pourjabbar S, Singh S, Kulkarni N, Muse V, Digumarthy SR, Khawaja RD, et al. Dose reduction for chest CT: comparison of two iterative reconstruction techniques. Acta Radiol 2015;56:688-695 https://doi.org/10.1177/0284185114537256
  23. Baumueller S, Winklehner A, Karlo C, Goetti R, Flohr T, Russi EW, et al. Low-dose CT of the lung: potential value of iterative reconstructions. Eur Radiol 2012;22:2597-2606 https://doi.org/10.1007/s00330-012-2524-0
  24. Gay F, Pavia Y, Pierrat N, Lasalle S, Neuenschwander S, Brisse HJ. Dose reduction with adaptive statistical iterative reconstruction for paediatric CT: phantom study and clinical experience on chest and abdomen CT. Eur Radiol 2014;24:102-111 https://doi.org/10.1007/s00330-013-2982-z
  25. Lee SW, Kim Y, Shim SS, Lee JK, Lee SJ, Ryu YJ, et al. Image quality assessment of ultra low-dose chest CT using sinogramaffirmed iterative reconstruction. Eur Radiol 2014;24:817-826 https://doi.org/10.1007/s00330-013-3090-9
  26. Wang H, Tan B, Zhao B, Liang C, Xu Z. Raw-data-based iterative reconstruction versus filtered back projection: image quality of low-dose chest computed tomography examinations in 87 patients. Clin Imaging 2013;37:1024-1032 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clinimag.2013.06.004
  27. Hwang HJ, Seo JB, Lee HJ, Lee SM, Kim EY, Oh SY, et al. Lowdose chest computed tomography with sinogram-affirmed iterative reconstruction, iterative reconstruction in image space, and filtered back projection: studies on image quality. J Comput Assist Tomogr 2013;37:610-617 https://doi.org/10.1097/RCT.0b013e31828f4dae
  28. Yang WJ, Yan FH, Liu B, Pang LF, Hou L, Zhang H, et al. Can sinogram-affirmed iterative (SAFIRE) reconstruction improve imaging quality on low-dose lung CT screening compared with traditional filtered back projection (FBP) reconstruction? J Comput Assist Tomogr 2013;37:301-305 https://doi.org/10.1097/RCT.0b013e31827b8c66
  29. Hu XH, Ding XF, Wu RZ, Zhang MM. Radiation dose of nonenhanced chest CT can be reduced 40% by using iterative reconstruction in image space. Clin Radiol 2011;66:1023-1029 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.crad.2011.04.008
  30. Lave A, Olsson ML, Siemund R, Stalhammar F, Bjorkman- Burtscher IM, Soderberg M. Six iterative reconstruction algorithms in brain CT: a phantom study on image quality at different radiation dose levels. Br J Radiol 2013;86:20130388 https://doi.org/10.1259/bjr.20130388
  31. Boedeker KL, Cooper VN, McNitt-Gray MF. Application of the noise power spectrum in modern diagnostic MDCT: part I. Measurement of noise power spectra and noise equivalent quanta. Phys Med Biol 2007;52:4027-4046 https://doi.org/10.1088/0031-9155/52/14/002
  32. Shlomi D, Ben-Avi R, Balmor GR, Onn A, Peled N. Screening for lung cancer: time for large-scale screening by chest computed tomography. Eur Respir J 2014;44:217-238 https://doi.org/10.1183/09031936.00164513
  33. Lee E, Goo HW, Lee JY. Age- and gender-specific estimates of cumulative CT dose over 5 years using real radiation dose tracking data in children. Pediatr Radiol 2015;45:1282-1292 https://doi.org/10.1007/s00247-015-3331-y
  34. Infante JC, Liu Y, Rigsby CK. CT image quality in sinogram affirmed iterative reconstruction phantom study-is there a point of diminishing returns? Pediatr Radiol 2017;47:333-341 https://doi.org/10.1007/s00247-016-3745-1
  35. Lim HJ, Chung MJ, Shin KE, Hwang HS, Lee KS. The impact of iterative reconstruction in low-dose computed tomography on the evaluation of diffuse interstitial lung disease. Korean J Radiol 2016;17:950-960 https://doi.org/10.3348/kjr.2016.17.6.950
  36. McCollough CH, Yu L, Kofler JM, Leng S, Zhang Y, Li Z, et al. Degradation of CT low-contrast spatial resolution due to the use of iterative reconstruction and reduced dose levels. Radiology 2015;276:499-506 https://doi.org/10.1148/radiol.15142047

Cited by

  1. Combined prospectively electrocardiography- and respiratory-triggered sequential cardiac computed tomography in free-breathing children: success rate and image quality vol.48, pp.7, 2018, https://doi.org/10.1007/s00247-018-4114-z
  2. A Glimpse on Trends and Characteristics of Recent Articles Published in the Korean Journal of Radiology vol.20, pp.12, 2019, https://doi.org/10.3348/kjr.2019.0928
  3. Semiautomatic Three-Dimensional Threshold-Based Cardiac Computed Tomography Ventricular Volumetry in Repaired Tetralogy of Fallot: Comparison with Cardiac Magnetic Resonance Imaging vol.20, pp.1, 2019, https://doi.org/10.3348/kjr.2018.0237
  4. User-Friendly Vendor-Specific Guideline for Pediatric Cardiothoracic Computed Tomography Provided by the Asian Society of Cardiovascular Imaging Congenital Heart Disease Study Group: Part 1. Imaging T vol.20, pp.2, 2018, https://doi.org/10.3348/kjr.2018.0571
  5. CareDose 4D 사용 시 동일한 스캔조건에서 조직기반설정을 다르게 적용함에 따른 선량 비교: 성인과 소아팬텀 연구 vol.42, pp.4, 2018, https://doi.org/10.17946/jrst.2019.42.4.271
  6. Application of Vendor-Neutral Iterative Reconstruction Technique to Pediatric Abdominal Computed Tomography vol.20, pp.9, 2018, https://doi.org/10.3348/kjr.2018.0715
  7. Pattern Analysis of Left Ventricular Remodeling Using Cardiac Computed Tomography in Children with Congenital Heart Disease: Preliminary Results vol.21, pp.6, 2020, https://doi.org/10.3348/kjr.2019.0689
  8. Hydrocephalus: Ventricular Volume Quantification Using Three-Dimensional Brain CT Data and Semiautomatic Three-Dimensional Threshold-Based Segmentation Approach vol.21, pp.None, 2018, https://doi.org/10.3348/kjr.2020.0671
  9. 자동노출제어장치 평가를 위한 3D 프린팅 기반의 자체 제작 팬텀의 유용성 평가 vol.41, pp.4, 2020, https://doi.org/10.9718/jber.2020.41.4.147
  10. Comparison of quantitative image quality of cardiac computed tomography between raw-data-based and model-based iterative reconstruction algorithms with an emphasis on image sharpness vol.50, pp.11, 2018, https://doi.org/10.1007/s00247-020-04741-x
  11. Quantitative Evaluation of Cardiothoracic CT Image Sharpness with an Integrated Circuit Detector: Comparison between Statistical and Model-Based Iterative Reconstruction Algorithms vol.5, pp.3, 2018, https://doi.org/10.22468/cvia.2021.00150
  12. Review of the Asian Consortium on Radiation Dose of Pediatric Cardiac CT (ASCI-REDCARD) and Recommendations for a New Edition vol.5, pp.4, 2018, https://doi.org/10.22468/cvia.2021.00269
  13. Feasibility of the Quantitative Assessment Method for CT Quality Control in Phantom Image Evaluation vol.11, pp.8, 2018, https://doi.org/10.3390/app11083570