The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether the prototype fine-cell detector computed tomography (FDCT) could improve smaller coronary artery stenosis measurement compared with 64-slice multidetector-row CT (MDCT).
Method and Materials:
We developed coronary phantoms of 2mm in diameter with 0%, 25%, 50%, 75% stenosis. Each stenotic part was made by Acrylonitrile-Butadiene-Styrene (ABS: 50 Hounsfield Unit (HU)) and lumen was filled with diluted iodine (380 HU). These coronary phantoms put into the water tank were scanned by both prototype FDCT and 64-slice MDCT. Configuration of FDCT was 32-row*0.3125mm detector collimation with 0.35mm smaller X-ray tube focal spot width, and that of 64-slice MDCT was 16-row*0.625mm detector collimation and 0.7mm X-ray focal spot. All axial images were reconstructed using Standard kernel with 96mm display field-of-view. Minimum lumen diameter and degree of stenosis in these data sets were automatically measured using the Vessel Analysis software (GE Healthcare).
Results:
Measured coronary lumen at 0%, 25%, 50%, 75% stenosis of 2mm-diameter phantom (corresponding to 2.0mm, 1.5mm, 1.0mm, 0.5mm) were 2.2mm, 1.8mm, 1.4mm, 0.7mm in FDCT, whereas those were 2.5mm, 2.0mm, 1.5mm, 1.4mm in 64-slice MDCT, respectively. Each degree of stenosis was calculated 21%, 38%, 69% in FDCT, while 20%, 38%, 44% in 64-slice MDCT. Measured value of 75% stenosis in FDCT was significantly improved compared with 64-slice MDCT.
Conclusion:
FDCT improves the accuracy of smaller coronary artery stenosis measurement compared with 64-slice MDCT. Superior spatial resolution of FDCT could be promising for more accurate assessment of the coronary artery stenosis.
Automatic detection of coronary artery stenosis in X-ray angiograms using Gaussian filters and genetic algorithms
