Denoising of pediatric low dose abdominal CT using deep learning based algorithm

Abstract

Objectives To evaluate standard dose-like computed tomography (CT) images generated by a deep learning method, trained using unpaired low-dose CT (LDCT) and standard-dose CT (SDCT) images. Materials and methods LDCT (80 kVp, 100 mAs, n = 83) and SDCT (120 kVp, 200 mAs, n = 42) images were divided into training (42 LDCT and 42 SDCT) and validation (41 LDCT) sets. A generative adversarial network framework was used to train unpaired datasets. The trained deep learning method generated virtual SDCT images (VIs) from the original LDCT images (OIs). To test the proposed method, LDCT images (80 kVp, 262 mAs, n = 33) were collected from another CT scanner using iterative reconstruction (IR). Image analyses were performed to evaluate the qualities of VIs in the validation set and to compare the performance of deep learning and IR in the test set. Results The noise of the VIs was the lowest in both validation and test sets (all p<0.001). The mean CT number of the VIs for the portal vein and liver was lower than that of OIs in both validation and test sets (all p<0.001) and was similar to those of SDCT. The contrast-to-noise ratio of portal vein and the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of portal vein and liver of VIs were higher than those of SDCT (all p<0.05). The SNR of VIs in test sets was the highest among three images. Conclusion The deep learning method trained by unpaired datasets could reduce noise of LDCT images and showed similar performance to SAFIRE. It can be applied to LDCT images of older CT scanners without IR.

Artificial Intelligence for Radiation Dose Optimization in Pediatric Radiology: A Systematic Review

“…Sixteen articles met the selection criteria and were included in this review. Table 1 shows these study characteristics [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 ]. All but one article were published in the last two years, representing that the AI for dose optimization in pediatric radiology has only just become popular [ 1 , 2 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 ].…”

“…Table 1 shows these study characteristics [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 ]. All but one article were published in the last two years, representing that the AI for dose optimization in pediatric radiology has only just become popular [ 1 , 2 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 ]. Nearly all (14) studies were determined high quality [ 1 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 ], and the lower quality ones were “pure” phantom studies [ 2 , 3 ].…”

“…All but one article were published in the last two years, representing that the AI for dose optimization in pediatric radiology has only just become popular [ 1 , 2 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 ]. Nearly all (14) studies were determined high quality [ 1 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 ], and the lower quality ones were “pure” phantom studies [ 2 , 3 ]. All studies used the DL technique [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 ] and were conducted by 12 groups of researchers from USA ( n = 8) [ 1 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 ...…”

“…Nearly all (14) studies were determined high quality [ 1 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 ], and the lower quality ones were “pure” phantom studies [ 2 , 3 ]. All studies used the DL technique [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 ] and were conducted by 12 groups of researchers from USA ( n = 8) [ 1 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 ], People’s Republic of China ( n = 6) [ 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 16 ], Republic of Korea ( n = 5) [ 2 , 3 , 5 , 7 , 15 ], Germany ( n = 2) [ 4 , 14 ], and Japan ( n ...…”

“…Radiology is an indispensable part of modern healthcare. However, most of the medical imaging modalities, such as computed tomography (CT), positron emission tomography (PET), and general radiography, use ionizing radiation for image production [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 ]. Although the radiation dose involved in these imaging modalities is low (<100 mSv), and their real risk is unclear, some epidemiologic and biologic studies have demonstrated that these radiological examinations can cause cancers [ 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 ].…”