Castleman`s Disease of the Lung

Summation or Axial Slab Average Intensity Projection of Abdominal Thin-section CT Datasets: Can They Substitute for the Primary Reconstruction from Raw Projection Data?

“…This is a fast and efficient technique for reviewing a large thinsection dataset, as overlapping slabs are rendered rapidly, creating the illusion of continuity from image to image as the user slides the slab along the viewing direction. 10,11 If average intensity projection is used for the sliding slab, image quality can be also improved by averaging a series of adjacent data points perpendicular to the reformatted plane, while keeping the patient dose low (even if the source images are acquired in thin-section) 10,13,21 and preserving the spatial resolution inherent in the source transverse images. 10,21,22 If something suspicious is detected, thinner source images can be examined easily for a more detailed view.…”

“…10,11 If average intensity projection is used for the sliding slab, image quality can be also improved by averaging a series of adjacent data points perpendicular to the reformatted plane, while keeping the patient dose low (even if the source images are acquired in thin-section) 10,13,21 and preserving the spatial resolution inherent in the source transverse images. 10,21,22 If something suspicious is detected, thinner source images can be examined easily for a more detailed view. 10,21 If we do not have to always reconstruct, archive, and review a thick-section PR dataset in addition to a thin-section dataset from the same raw projection data, productivity would be enhanced, and radiologists would be able to concentrate on navigating a single volumetric dataset by using interactive sliding slab viewing mode.…”

“…10,21,22 If something suspicious is detected, thinner source images can be examined easily for a more detailed view. 10,21 If we do not have to always reconstruct, archive, and review a thick-section PR dataset in addition to a thin-section dataset from the same raw projection data, productivity would be enhanced, and radiologists would be able to concentrate on navigating a single volumetric dataset by using interactive sliding slab viewing mode. If current and previous images (assuming that previous images are electronically stored) could be compared on a routine basis in interactive sliding slab viewing mode, productivity would be further Data represent numbers of image pairs.…”

“…[6][7][8][9] Sliding slab AIP is already widely used for the volumetric navigation of thin-section datasets, in which overlapping slabs of a desired thickness are rapidly rendered creating the illusion of continuity from image to image as the user slides the slab along a viewing direction. 6,10,11 Regardless of whether summation and AIP are applied at the time of display in an interactive manner, or at the time of archiving or filming, these techniques are being increasingly used, 6,8,10,[12][13][14] and they are likely to become a primary interpretation mode for thin-section CT datasets, to deal with data overload and to increase image quality. 10 However, because primary reconstruction (PR) directly from raw projection data has been the standard for primary interpretation in clinical practice since the period of single detector-row CT, the likelihood of the utilization of AIP and summation raises a fundamental question, namely, is it justifiable to use summation or AIP for primary interpretation instead of PR?…”

“…6,10,11 Regardless of whether summation and AIP are applied at the time of display in an interactive manner, or at the time of archiving or filming, these techniques are being increasingly used, 6,8,10,[12][13][14] and they are likely to become a primary interpretation mode for thin-section CT datasets, to deal with data overload and to increase image quality. 10 However, because primary reconstruction (PR) directly from raw projection data has been the standard for primary interpretation in clinical practice since the period of single detector-row CT, the likelihood of the utilization of AIP and summation raises a fundamental question, namely, is it justifiable to use summation or AIP for primary interpretation instead of PR? If this is not the case, we have to routinely reconstruct and archive both thick-section (with lower-noise) and thin-section datasets (with higher-resolution) from the same raw projection data for every examination, to take full advantage of modern thin-section scanners.…”