title: Low-dose CT of the abdomen: evaluation of image improvement with use of noise reduction filters pilot study.
abstract: A prospective assessment of improvement in image quality at low-radiation-dose computed tomography (CT) of the abdomen by using noise reduction filters was performed. CT images acquired at standard and 50% reduced tube current were processed with six noise reduction filters and evaluated by three radiologists for image noise, sharpness, contrast, and overall image quality in terms of abdominal organ depiction. Quantitative image noise and contrast-to-noise ratio were measured. Baseline low-dose CT images were significantly worse than standard-dose CT images (P <.05). A statistically significant reduction of noise in low-dose images processed with three filters was noted. In conclusion, use of noise reduction filters decreased image noise at low-dose CT.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, White 270-E, 55 Fruit St, Boston, MA 02114, USA.
authors.forename: Mannudeep K
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: Kalra
authors.forename: Michael M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Maher
authors.forename: Dushyant V
authors.initials: DV
authors.lastname: Sahani
authors.forename: Michael A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Blake
authors.forename: Peter F
authors.initials: PF
authors.lastname: Hahn
authors.forename: Gopal B
authors.initials: GB
authors.lastname: Avinash
authors.forename: Thomas L
authors.initials: TL
authors.lastname: Toth
authors.forename: Elkan
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Halpern
authors.forename: Sanjay
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Saini
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D016477:Artifacts; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010865:Pilot Projects; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011860:Radiography, Abdominal / Q000379:methods*; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed / Q000379:methods*