Affiliations 

  • 1 Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia
  • 2 Department of Diagnostic & Applied Health Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysiainstitution>
  • 3 Department of Radiology, Hospital Kuala Lumpur, Jalan Pahang, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
  • 4 Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Sungai Buloh, Selangor, Malaysia
J Xray Sci Technol, 2020;28(5):893-903.
PMID: 32741801 DOI: 10.3233/XST-200699

Abstract

PURPOSE: To evaluate the influence of iterative reconstruction (IR) levels on Computed Tomography (CT) image quality and to establish Figure of Merit (FOM) value for CT Pulmonary Angiography (CTPA) examinations.

METHODS: Images of 31 adult patients who underwent CTPA examinations in our institution from March to April 2019 were retrospectively collected. Other data, such as scanning parameters, radiation dose and body habitus information from the subjects were also recorded. Six different levels of IR were applied to the volume data of the subjects. Five circles of the region of interest (ROI) were drawn in five different arteries namely, pulmonary trunk, right pulmonary artery, left pulmonary artery, ascending aorta and descending aorta. The mean Signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) was obtained, and the FOM was calculated in a fraction of the SNR2 divided by volume-weighted CT dose index (CTDIvol) and SNR2 divided by the size-specific dose estimates (SSDE).

RESULTS: Overall, we observed that the mean value of CTDIvol and SSDE were 13.79±7.72 mGy and 17.25±8.92 mGy, respectively. Notably, SNR values significantly increase with increase of the IR level (p 

* Title and MeSH Headings from MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.