Quantitative analysis of small coronary artery calcium detectability with an accurate simulation and validation on a clinical CT scanner

Abstract

BackgroundThe absence of coronary artery calcium (CAC) measured via CT is associated with very favorable prognosis, and current guidelines recommend low‐density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL‐c) lowering therapy for individuals with any CAC. This motivates early detection of small granules of CAC; however, calcium scan sensitivity for detecting very low levels of calcium has not been quantified.PurposeIn this work, the size limit of detectability of small calcium hydroxyapatite (CaHA) granules with clinical CAC scanning was assessed using validated simulations.MethodsCT projections of digital 3D mathematical phantoms containing small CaHA granules were simulated analytically; images were reconstructed using a filter designed to reproduce the point spread function of a specific commercial scanner, and a relationship of HU number versus diameter was derived. These simulation results were validated with experimental measurements of HU versus diameter from phantoms containing small granules of CaHA on a GE Revolution CT scanner in the clinic; ground truth measurements of the CaHA granule diameters were obtained using a Zeiss Xradia 510 Versa high‐resolution 3D micro‐CT imaging system. Using experimental measurements on the clinical CT scanner, detectability was quantified with a detectability index (d’) using a non‐prewhitened matched filter. The effect of changes to reconstruction slice thickness and reconstruction kernel on granule detectability was evaluated.ResultsUnder typical clinical calcium scanning and reconstruction conditions, the minimum detectable diameter of a simulated spherical calcium granule with a clinically relevant CaHA density was 0.76 mm. The minimum detectable volume was 2.4 times smaller on images reconstructed at a slice thickness of 0.625 mm compared to 2.5 mm. The detectability index d’ increased by a factor of 1.7 when images were reconstructed with 0.625 mm slices compared to 2.5 mm slices. d’ did not change when images were reconstructed with the high‐resolution BONE filter compared to the less sharp STANDARD resolution filter on the GE Revolution CT.ConclusionsWe have quantified detectability versus size of small calcium granules at the resolution limit of a widely available clinical CT scanner. Detectability increased significantly with reduced slice thickness and did not change with a sharper reconstruction kernel. The simulation can be used to calculate the trade‐off between dose and CAC detectability. Keywords: computed tomography, coronary artery calcium, CAC, cardiac imaging