Optimal Conspicuity of Liver Metastases in Virtual Monochromatic Imaging Reconstructions on a Novel Photon-Counting Detector CT—Effect of keV Settings and BMI

Abstract

In dual-energy CT datasets, the conspicuity of liver metastases can be enhanced by virtual monoenergetic imaging (VMI) reconstructions at low keV levels. Our study investigated whether this effect can be reproduced in photon-counting detector CT (PCD-CT) datasets. We analyzed 100 patients with liver metastases who had undergone contrast-enhanced CT of the abdomen on a PCD-CT (n = 50) or energy-integrating detector CT (EID-CT, single-energy mode, n = 50). PCD-VMI-reconstructions were performed at various keV levels. Identical regions of interest were positioned in metastases, normal liver, and other defined locations assessing image noise, tumor-to-liver ratio (TLR), and contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR). Patients were compared inter-individually. Subgroup analyses were performed according to BMI. On the PCD-CT, noise and CNR peaked at the low end of the keV spectrum. In comparison with the EID-CT, PCD-VMI-reconstructions exhibited lower image noise (at 70 keV) but higher CNR (for ≤70 keV), despite similar CTDIs. Comparing high- and low-BMI patients, CTDI-upregulation was more modest for the PCD-CT but still resulted in similar noise levels and preserved CNR, unlike the EID-CT. In conclusion, PCD-CT VMIs in oncologic patients demonstrated reduced image noise–compared to a standard EID-CT–and improved conspicuity of hypovascularized liver metastases at low keV values. Patients with higher BMIs especially benefited from constant image noise and preservation of lesion conspicuity, despite a more moderate upregulation of CTDI.