Iodine quantification and detectability thresholds among major dual-energy CT platforms

Area of Science:

• Medical Imaging
• Radiology
• CT Technology

Background:

• Dual-energy CT (DECT) enables material differentiation, including iodine quantification.
• Accurate iodine concentration estimation is crucial for various clinical applications.
• Understanding the performance of different DECT platforms at low concentrations is essential.

Purpose of the Study:

• To determine the minimum detectable iodine concentration across various DECT platforms.
• To compare the iodine detection capabilities of different DECT systems in vitro.
• To assess the impact of DECT technology on iodine detection limits.

Main Methods:

• A phantom with iodine concentrations from 0 to 10 mg/mL was scanned using five DECT platforms.
• Serial dilutions were used to achieve concentrations below 2 mg/mL.
• Radiologists visually determined the minimum detectable iodine concentration, and contrast-to-noise ratios (CNRs) were calculated.

Main Results:

• The minimum visually detectable iodine concentration was approximately 1 mg/mL (0.8 mg/mL corrected) across all platforms.
• This low concentration was detectable by all readers on third-generation rapid kilovolt switching (r-kVs) and dual-source (DS) platforms.
• Contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) was highest on the DS platform and lowest on sequential acquisition and split-filter platforms at low iodine concentrations.

Conclusions:

• The study provides in vitro validation of in vivo estimates for iodine detection limits with DECT.
• Performance varies among DECT platforms, with DS and r-kVs showing superior low-concentration detection.
• These findings aid in selecting appropriate DECT technology for applications requiring sensitive iodine quantification.