Image quality improvement and exposure dose reduction with the combined use of X-ray modulation and Boost3D

摘要

Multislice CT with a larger number of detector rows has recently become the mainstream. As a result, scanning with a thin slice thickness is more frequently performed. However, a large number of obvious raster-type artifacts occur when X-ray absorption in the lateral direction is extremely high, such as in the shoulder and the pelvis. There are two methods to solve this problem. In one method, X-ray output is modulated during rotation so that the exposure dose is increased in regions with high X-ray absorption and reduced in regions with low X-ray absorption. In the other method, regions that are responsible for artifacts are filter-processed using image processing to minimize artifacts. From the viewpoints of image quality and exposure dose, we have evaluated a method we have developed that combines X-ray modulation technology (X-ray Modulation) and artifact elimination processing (Boost3D). An acrylic elliptical phantom was used for evaluation. Assuming a constant image SD level, it was found that the exposure dose can be reduced by approximately 25% with the combined use of X-ray Modulation and Boost3D.