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Assessment of task-based image quality for abdominal CT protocols linked with national diagnostic reference levels
Anaïs Viry1, Christoph Aberle2, Thiago Lima3,4
1Institute of Radiation Physics, Lausanne University Hospital and University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland. Anais.viry@chuv.ch.
European Radiology
|July 30, 2021
Summary
Image quality varies significantly across CT scanners, even at similar radiation doses, impacting lesion detection. Tailoring radiation dose optimization for each CT scanner and protocol is essential for consistent diagnostic performance.
Area of Science:
- Medical Imaging
- Radiology
- Diagnostic Imaging
Background:
- Assessing CT image quality is crucial for accurate diagnosis.
- Establishing relationships between radiation dose and image quality is vital for patient safety and effective imaging.
- Variability in CT scanner performance necessitates standardized quality assessment methods.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate task-based image quality for abdominal CT protocols across different scanners.
- To determine the relationship between diagnostic reference levels (DRLs) and objective image quality metrics.
- To identify the need for scanner-specific dose optimization strategies.
Main Methods:
- Utilized anthropomorphic phantoms with low-contrast (liver lesions) and high-contrast (renal stones) targets.
- Scanned phantoms using two abdominal CT protocols at varying CTDIvol levels on 12 CT scanners.
- Employed channelized Hotelling and non-prewhitening observers to assess target detectability, using AUC and SNR as performance metrics.
Main Results:
- High image quality for detecting 8-mm low-contrast spheres was achieved at 11 mGy, with significant variability between scanners at lower doses.
- Detectability of 5-mm low-contrast spheres remained suboptimal across tested conditions.
- Near-maximal image quality for renal stone detection was observed even at the lowest radiation dose levels.
Conclusions:
- Task-based image quality for subtle low-contrast lesion detection varies considerably among CT scanners within the clinical dose range.
- Established a link between diagnostic reference levels and task-based image quality metrics.
- Concluded that individualized dose optimization for each CT scanner and protocol is necessary to ensure consistent diagnostic performance.
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