Accuracy of dual-energy computed tomography for the quantification of iodine in a soft tissue-mimicking phantom

The objective of this study was to evaluate the accuracy of dual-energy CT (DECT) for quantifying iodine using a soft tissue-mimicking phantom across various DECT acquisition parameters and dual-source CT (DSCT) scanners. A phantom was constructed with plastic tubes containing soft tissue-mimicking materials with known iodine concentrations (0-20 mg/mL). Experiments were performed on two DSCT scanners, one equipped with an integrated detector and the other with a conventional detector. DECT data were acquired using two DE modes (80 kV/Sn140 kV and 100 kV/Sn140 kV) with four pitch values (0.6, 0.8, 1.0, and 1.2). Images were reconstructed using a soft tissue kernel with and without beam hardening correction (BHC) for iodine. Using the dedicated DE software, iodine concentrations were measured and compared to true concentrations. We also investigated the effect of reducing gantry rotation time on the DECT-based iodine measurement. At iodine concentrations higher than 10 mg/mL, the relative error in measured iodine concentration increased slightly. This error can be decreased by using the kernel with BHC, compared with the kernel without BHC. Both 80 kV/Sn140 kV and 100 kV/Sn140 kV modes could provide accurate quantification of iodine content. Increasing pitch value or reducing gantry rotation time had only a minor impact on the DECT-based iodine measurement. The DSCT scanner, equipped with the new integrated detector, showed more accurate iodine quantification for all iodine concentrations higher than 10 mg/mL. An accurate quantification of iodine can be obtained using the second-generation DSCT scanner in various DE modes with pitch values up to 1.2 and gantry rotation time down to 0.28 s. For iodine concentrations ≥ 10 mg/mL, using the new integrated detector and the kernel with BHC can improve the accuracy of DECT-based iodine measurements.