Improved Imaging Quality of the Pediatric Brain on Third-Generation CT

Abstract

Background: Third-generation computed tomography (CT) has advances in detector efficiency, and newer iterative reconstruction (IR) algorithms Objective: To retrospectively compare pediatric brain imaging quality between second-and third-generation CT.Methods: Image quality was compared between second-and third-generation CT in 51 pairs of age-matched children (age range, 0-5 years) with no abnormal findings. CT images were reconstructed using filtered back-projection (FBP) and IR. The contrastto-noise ratio (CNR) and signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) were calculated at the lentiform nucleus (LN) and white matter (WM). Imaging contrast at the gray-WM interface was rated by two readers. Results:The CNR and SNR of the LN and WM were significantly higher on thirdgeneration CT than on second-generation CT (mean CNR, 2.51 vs 2.12, p < 0.001; mean SNR for LN, 15.13 vs 12.71, p < 0.001; mean SNR for WM, 12.27 vs 11.12, p = 0.012) when FBP was used. With FBP, both readers rated visually assessed grey-white matter contrast as better on third-generation CT than on second-generation CT (p ≤ 0.002). With IR, the CNR and SNR were significantly higher than with FBP on both generation CT scanners (p < 0.001). The LN CNR was significantly higher on third-generation CT than on second-generation CT (mean, 16.79 vs 15.13, p < 0.001). With IR, visual assessments on third-generation CT were generally better than on second-generation CT. Conclusion:Imaging quality of the pediatric brain was better on third-generation CT than on second-generation CT. IR may be effective on CT scanners of both generations.