Feasibility of improving vascular imaging in the presence of metallic stents using spectral photon counting CT and K-edge imaging.
Sci Rep
; 9(1): 19850, 2019 12 27.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-31882698
ABSTRACT
Correct visualization of the vascular lumen is impaired in standard computed tomography (CT) because of blooming artifacts, increase of apparent size, induced by metallic stents and vascular calcifications. Recently, due to the introduction of photon-counting detectors in the X-ray imaging field, a new prototype spectral photon-counting CT (SPCCT) based on a modified clinical CT system has been tested in a feasibility study for improving vascular lumen delineation and visualization of coronary stent architecture. Coronary stents of different metal composition were deployed inside plastic tubes containing hydroxyapatite spheres to simulate vascular calcifications and in the abdominal aorta of one New Zealand White (NZW) rabbit. Imaging was performed with an SPCCT prototype, a dual-energy CT system, and a conventional 64-channel CT system (B64). We found the apparent widths of the stents significantly smaller on SPCCT than on the other two systems in vitro (p < 0.01), thus closer to the true size. Consequently, the intra-stent lumen was significantly larger on SPCCT (p < 0.01). In conclusion, owing to the increased spatial resolution of SPCCT, improved lumen visualization and delineation of stent metallic mesh is possible compared to dual-energy and conventional CT.
Full text:
1
Collection:
01-internacional
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Tomography, X-Ray Computed
/
Stents
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Coronary Angiography
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Coronary Vessels
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Metals
Limits:
Animals
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Humans
/
Male
Language:
En
Journal:
Sci Rep
Year:
2019
Document type:
Article