Tissue analysis by dual-energy computed tomography

A straightforward method of tissue analysis from dual-energy computed tomography (CT) is presented which does not rely on previous inaccurate or incorrect formulations of the X-ray attenuation coefficient. The attenuation coefficients of tissue and bone were represented by a mixture of two reference materials. For convenience, water and calcium chloride were chosen. After careful calibration of the CT scanner, a dual-energy CT scan yields the water and calcium chloride in units of kg/kg multiplied by the specific gravity of the tissue. For an error of +/- 2 HU on dual-energy scans at 140 kVp and 87 kVp on an EMI CT5005 general-purpose scanner, the error on the calcium chloride coefficients is +/- 0.004 kg/kg. Fat concentrations greater than 25% by weight may be detected when the coefficients are averaged over at least 200 pixels. Bone mineral content could be measured with a precision of 0.01 (in units of kg/kg multiplied by specific gravity) for averaging regions of 24 pixels. Iodine concentrations in tissue can be deduced if water and iodine are chosen as the reference materials. Clinical examples are presented to illustrate the technique for scans of both the head and the abdomen.