title: The effect of mAs variation upon computed tomography image quality as evaluated by in vivo and in vitro studies.
abstract: The effect of different mAs settings on computed tomobraphy (CT) image quality was evaluated by a clinical study and phantom studies. In the clinical portion of this study, a number of CT images, obtained at various mAs settings, were reviewed by experienced CT interpreters. From these same images, graphs were charted of the root-mean-standard deviation (RMSD) vs. body size; there appeared to be a linear relationship between noise, as measured by RMSD, and body size. A performance phantom was used to evaluate the effect of the different mAs settings on resolution. There was some loss in low contrast resolution at 6 and 20 mAs; however, the resolution was identical at 40 and 100 mAs.
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D008961:Models, Structural; D010179:Pancreas / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D011829:Radiation Dosage; D011856:Radiographic Image Enhancement / Q000379:methods*; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed / Q000379:methods*