Abstract
Purpose:
To present a simple method for quantification of dual-energy CT metal artifact reduction capabilities
Methods:
A phantom was constructed from solid water and a steel cylinder. Solid water is commonly used for radiotherapy QA, while steel cylinders are readily available in hardware stores. The phantom was scanned on Siemens Somatom 64-slice dual-energy CT system. Three CTs were acquired at energies of 80kV (low), 120kV (nominal), and 140kV (high). The low and high energy acquisitions were used to generate dual-energy (DE) monoenergetic image sets, which also utilized metal artifact reduction algorithm (Maris). Several monoenergetic DE image sets, ranging from 70keV to 190keV were generated. The size of the metal artifact was measured by two different approaches. The first approach measured the distance from the center of the steel cylinder to a location with nominal (undisturbed by metal) HU value for the 120kV, DE 70keV, and DE 190keV image sets. In the second approach, the distance from the center of the cylinder to the edge of the air pocket for the above mentioned three image sets was measured.
Results:
The DE 190keV synthetic image set demonstrated the largest reduction of the metal artifacts. The size of the artifact was more than three times the actual size of the milled hole in the solid water in the DE 190keV, as compared to more than 7.5 times larger as estimated from the 120kV uncorrected image
Conclusion:
A simple phantom for quantification of dual-energy CT metal artifact reduction capabilities was presented. This inexpensive phantom can be easily built from components available in every radiation oncology department. It allows quick assessment and quantification of the properties of different metal artifact reduction algorithms, available on modern dual-energy CT scanners.
