The comparison of radiation dose between C-arm flat-detector CT (DynaCT) and multi-slice CT (MSCT): A phantom study

doi:10.1016/j.ejrad.2011.09.006

European Journal of Radiology

Volume 81, Issue 11, November 2012, Pages 3577-3580

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejrad.2011.09.006 Get rights and content

Abstract

Purpose

To assess and compare the radiation dose of DynaCT in phantoms to that of MSCT.

Methods and materials

A male Anderson Radiation Therapy 200 phantom with embedded thermoluminescence dosimeters (TLDs) was scanned with DynaCT (Axiom Artis dTA, Siemens Healthcare, Forchheim, Germany) and MSCTs (MSCT1: Lightspeed VCT, GE, Milwaukee, USA; MSCT2: Sensation Cardiac 64, Siemens Healthcare, Erlangen, Germany), respectively. For DynaCT, radiation exposure data with automatic exposure control were obtained from scanning of head, chest and abdomen. For MSCT, scanning protocols for head, chest, and abdomen were examined under conventional exposure conditions. Effective doses were calculated from LiF–TLD measurements according to ICRP103. A Catphan phantom (Phantom Lab, USA) was used to evaluate the spatial resolution and low contrast detectability of DynaCT and MSCT.

Results

The effective doses for DynaCT from head, chest and abdomen scanning were 1.18, 7.32, 7.48 mSv (20 s scan) and 0.85, 6.01, 7.04 mSv (8 s scan); the effective doses for MSCT from head, chest and abdomen scanning were 3.33, 7.62 and 8.42 mSv (MSCT1), and 1.89, 7.52, 8.23 mSv (MSCT2). Significant difference between the organ doses from DynaCT and from MSCT (p < .05) was shown. The spatial resolution of 12 lp/cm was achieved and it was able to recognize a 3 mm low contrast object at 0.5% contrast level in DynaCT, which was on the same level as in the MSCT images.

Conclusion

The phantom study indicates that DynaCT applies significantly less dose to patient and achieves similar spatial resolution and low contrast detectability to standard diagnostic MSCT.

Introduction

C-arm flat panel CT combines the C-arm design and three-dimensional (3D) cone-beam CT imaging, enables both traditional angiographic imaging, and soft tissue differentiation [1]. In C-arm flat panel angiographic systems, the CT-like images are generated from two-dimensional (2D) X-ray projection images acquired with flat-panel detector [2], [3], [4], [5].

With new improvements in detector technology, cone-beam reconstruction algorithm and image correction [2], [3], [4], [5], [6], [7], C-arm flat panel CT imaging has been widely used in different clinical applications. Previous studies have demonstrated the value of C-arm CT in therapy planning, image guidance and diagnosis, especially in complex interventional procedures [8], [9], [10], [11].

The objective of this phantom study is mainly to show the difference of radiation dose level between C-arm CT system and MSCT and the image quality achieved by C-arm CT, in comparison with MSCT.

Section snippets

Phantoms and scanning technique

Dose measurements were performed on two multi-slice CT scanners (MSCT) (Lightspeed VCT (MSCT1), GE, Milwaukee, USA; and Sensation Cardiac 64 (MSCT2), Siemens Healthcare, Erlangen, Germany), and one C-arm CT marketed as DynaCT (Axiom Artis dTA, Siemens Healthcare, Forchheim, Germany), respectively. For DynaCT, radiation exposure data were obtained from routine scanning of head, chest and abdomen; automatic exposure control (AEC) and (20 s and 8 s rotation time) scans were used. For MSCT, scanning

Results

For DynaCT 20 s scan, the effective doses from head, chest and abdomen scanning were 1.18, 7.32 and 7.48 mSv; for DynaCT 8 s scan, the effective doses from head, chest and abdomen scanning were 0.85, 6.01 and 7.04 mSv; for MSCT, the effective doses from head, chest and abdomen scanning were 3.33, 7.62, 8.42 mSv (from MSCT1), and 1.89, 7.52, 8.23 mSv (from MSCT2). The relative dose reduction ranged from 2.7% to 74.5% for DynaCT scan, compared to MSCT. The organ doses in position of brain for DynaCT

Discussion and conclusion

Under conventional exposure conditions, the radiation dose of DynaCT as well as its image quality has been measured and some features of DynaCT imaging have been revealed by the phantom study.

DynaCT with large size detector, such as the 30 cm × 40 cm Pixium 4700 flat-panel detector (Trixell, Moirans, France), offers a native pixel pitch of 154 μm in a 1920 × 2480 matrix. In clinical condition, the spatial resolution seen in bar-pattern experiments can be achieved about 12 lp/cm, this value is slightly

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Acknowledgments

This work was supported by IAEA Research Contract No.16155/R0, the National Natural Sciences Foundation of China (NSFC), Grant No. 30870751, and Beijing Municipal Health Bureau, Grant No. 2009-3-57.

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The comparison of radiation dose between C-arm flat-detector CT (DynaCT) and multi-slice CT (MSCT): A phantom study

Abstract

Purpose

Methods and materials

Results

Conclusion

Introduction

Section snippets

Phantoms and scanning technique

Results

Discussion and conclusion

Conflict of interest

Acknowledgments

Comput Med Imaging Graph

Eur J Vasc Endovasc Surg

J Vasc Interv Radiol

J Vasc Surg

C-arm flat detector computed tomography: the technique and its applications in interventional neuro-radiology

Neuroradiology

3D imaging with flat-detector C-arm systems

Cone-beam computed tomography with a flat-panel imager: initial performance characterization

Med Phys

Flat-detector computed tomography (FD-CT)

Eur Radiol

Towards cardiac C-arm computed tomography

IEEE Trans Med Imaging