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Updated: Jan 24, 2026

Porcine As a Training Module for Head and Neck Microvascular Reconstruction
Published on: September 29, 2018
Improving resolution of head and neck CTA using the small x-ray tube focal spot
Johannes Rosskopf1, Michael Braun2, Meinrad Beer3
1Department of Radiology, University of Ulm, Albert-Einstein-Allee 23, 89081, Ulm, Germany. johannes.rosskopf@uni-ulm.de.
Abstract:
CT-resolution depends on tube focal spot size. To investigate the effect of reducing focal spot on vessel wall clarity, 22 patients underwent head and neck CTA acquisition with large and small focal spot size. Hounsfield density profile was assessed for each head and neck vessel separately, and significantly sharper density increase at vessel borders was observed using smaller tube focus by an average of 9.9% to 82° angle degrees (p < .05). In conclusion, spatial resolution of CTA of head and neck vessels can be improved by using the small x-ray tube focal spot.
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