Whole-body CT for lymphoma staging: Feasibility of halving radiation dose and risk by iterative image reconstruction

Iterative Reconstructions in Reduced-Dose CT

“…An evaluation of the 50% dose CT protocol by our four readers confirmed these findings, as diagnostic confidence was maintained and the subjective image quality of the reduced-dose images was still above average when compared to the reference, 100% dose images. Thus, in agreement with other authors (9,10,16,17,20,21,24,29), we think that routine follow-up in oncology patients with 50% reduced-dose CT is feasible, provided that IR algorithms are employed. We are the first to prospectively compare reduced-dose MBIR and ASIR images in young oncology patients, for whom the decrease in overall cumulative radiation exposure represents a major concern.…”

“…As previously reported (6)(7)(8)(9)13,14,16,18,19,(21)(22)(23)(26)(27)(28)(29), IR algorithms enable a lower radiation dose for body CT acquisitions while preserving image quality. An evaluation of the 50% dose CT protocol by our four readers confirmed these findings, as diagnostic confidence was maintained and the subjective image quality of the reduced-dose images was still above average when compared to the reference, 100% dose images.…”

“…The potential for dose reduction using IR while preserving image quality has already been the subject of several publications (8,11,(13)(14)(15)(16)(17), but only a few studies have analyzed both chest and abdominal CT images (10,(18)(19)(20)(21)(22)(23)(24) and none have focused on young patients. As young patients represent the most radiosensitive population (25), they most urgently require an optimized radiation exposure, especially when they frequently undergo CT examinations, such as for follow-up of oncological disease.…”

Unenhanced third-generation dual-source chest CT using a tin filter for spectral shaping at 100 kVp

“…Secondly, the use of an improved 3rd generation iterative reconstruction algorithm allows for further image noise and/or radiation dose reduction while maintaining image quality. The potential for noise and radiation dose reduction with 1st and 2nd generation iterative reconstruction algorithms has been demonstrated by numerous previous studies for various body regions [4,10,[15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22]. Lee et al demonstrated that iterative reconstruction reduces image noise significantly thus improving overall SNR, while reducing applied dose to 0.7 ± 0.1 mSv for chest CT [5].…”

“…Image sharpness was separately evaluated using the following 5-point Likert-scale (1 -unacceptable reduction of sharpness, 2 -significantly reduced sharpness and blurring with adjacent structures, 3 -minimally reduced sharpness with blurring aspect to adjacent structures, 4 -minimally reduced sharpness, 5 -excellent sharpness). Additionally image noise was subjectively evaluated using the following 5-point Likert scale (1 -unacceptable image noise, 2 -above average noise, 3 -average image noise, 4 -less than average noise, 5 -minimal image noise) [10].…”