Differentiation of low-attenuation intracranial hemorrhage and calcification using dual-energy computed tomography in a phantom system.

ABSTRACT:

Objectives

Calcific and hemorrhagic intracranial lesions with attenuation levels of less than 100 Hounsfield units (HUs) cannot currently be reliably differentiated by single-energy computed tomography (SECT). The proper differentiation of these lesion types would have a multitude of clinical applications. A phantom model was used to test the ability of dual-energy CT (DECT) to differentiate such lesions.

Materials and methods

Agar gel-bound ferric oxide and hydroxyapatite were used to model hemorrhage and calcification, respectively. Gel models were scanned using SECT and DECT and organized into SECT attenuation-matched pairs at 16 attenuation levels between 0 and 100 HU. Dual-energy CT data were analyzed using 3-dimensional (3D) Gaussian mixture models (GMMs), as well as a

SUBMITTER: Nute JL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4335714 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature