Abstract
OBJECTIVE. The purpose of this phantom study was to determine the utility of a thirdgeneration dual-source CT scanner with increased dual-energy spectral separation in differentiating urinary stone composition. MATERIALS AND METHODS. Eighty-seven urinary stones from humans were scanned in 35-, 40-, 45-, and 50-cm wide anthropomorphic phantoms with a third-generation dual-source scanner (system A) with a high-energy beam of 150 kV plus 0.6-mm tin filtration (Sn). The low-energy data were acquired at 70, 80, 90, and 100 kV. A second-generation dualsource scanner (system B) was used to acquire data at 140 kV plus 0.4-mm Sn for the highenergy and 80 or 100 kV for the low-energy images. Volume CT dose index was matched for a given phantom size. CT number ratios were calculated and used to differentiate uric acid from non-uric acid stones and oxalate from apatite stones in an ROC analysis. RESULTS. The area under the curve (AUC) of the ROC curve for uric acid versus non- uric acid stones increased for large phantoms. For example, for imaging of the 45-cm wide phantom with system A at the 100-and 150-kV Sn low-and high-energy combination, the AUC was 0.99, whereas for system B at the 100-and 140-kV Sn combination, the AUC was 0.86. At each phantom size and for all energy combinations, the AUC values for oxalate versus apatite stones were higher for system A than they were for any energy combination for system B. CONCLUSION. Compared with use of second-generation dual-source CT, use of thirdgeneration dual-source CT at the energy combination of 100 and 150 kV Sn improved classification of urinary stones across a wide range of phantom sizes and increased the ability to differentiate oxalate from apatite stones.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 1203-1207 |
Number of pages | 5 |
Journal | American Journal of Roentgenology |
Volume | 205 |
Issue number | 6 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Dec 2015 |
Keywords
- CT
- Dual-energy CT
- Phantom
- Spectral separation
- Urinary stones
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Radiology Nuclear Medicine and imaging