Effect of image quality on myocardial extracellular volume quantification using cardiac computed tomography: a phantom study

Background The image quality directly affects the accuracy of computed tomography (CT) extracellular volume (ECV) quantification. Purpose To investigate the effects of image quality and acquisition protocol on the accuracy of ECV quantification. Material and Methods One-volume scans were performed on a 320-row multidetector CT volume scanner using a multi-energy CT phantom. To simulate the blood pool and myocardium, solid rods representing blood and soft tissue were used in precontrast CT. Moreover, the solid rods including different iodine concentrations were used in postcontrast CT. The tube voltage was set at 120 kVp, and the tube current was changed from 750 mA (100% dose) to 190 mA (25% dose). All images underwent full- and half-scan reconstructions based on model-based iterative reconstruction. The ECV was calculated from the CT numbers between pre- and postcontrast. Results The mean ECV with full- and half-scan reconstructions at the central portion was 0.275 at 100% scan dose to 0.271 at 25% scan dose and 0.276 at 100% scan dose to 0.269 at 25% scan dose. Compared with that in the 100% scan dose, the variation in each ECV increased with decreasing radiation dose. The ECV at the center of the image along the z-axis had lower variation than that at outer portion of the images. On the reconstruction algorithm, there was no statistical difference in ECVs with full- and half-scan reconstructions. Conclusion For stable ECV quantifications, excessive radiation dose reduction may be inappropriate, and it is better to consider the variations in ECV values depending on the slice location.