title: Accuracy of attenuation measurement of vascular wall in vitro on computed tomography angiography: Effect of wall thickness, density of contrast medium, and measurement point.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  We sought to assess the effects of measurement point, wall thickness, and intravascular density of contrast material on attenuation measurement of vascular wall.
  
  
  METHODS
  We used vascular models (actual attenuation value of the wall: 83 HU) with wall thicknesses of 1.5, 1.0, or 0.5 mm, filled with contrast material of 254, 325, or 400 HU. The 9 vascular models were fixed in an oil-filled container and scanned with a 16-detector computed tomography. The wall attenuation values were measured at 1 point for 0.5-mm thickness models, 3 for 1.0-mm thickness models, and 5 for 1.5-mm thickness models with the same interval of 0.25 mm. Total 20 measurements were done for each point.
  
  
  RESULTS
  For 1.0-mm and 1.5-mm thickness models, wall attenuation progressively increased as the measurement points approached the lumen (P < 0.0001). At all the measurement points for 0.5-mm and 1.0-mm thickness models and the 2 inner measurement points for 1.5-mm thickness models, the densities of contrast material affected the wall attenuations significantly (P < 0.0001). At the midportion for 1.5-mm thickness models, the wall attenuations were not affected by the densities of the contrast material (P = 0.6301), and were 65-68 HU.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The effects of the intravascular density of contrast material, measurement point, and wall thickness should be considered in the attenuation measurement of the wall.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Teikyo University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan. s-suzuki@med.teikyo-u.ac.jp
authors.forename: Shigeru
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Suzuki
authors.forename: Shigeru
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Furui
authors.forename: Sadatoshi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kuwahara
authors.forename: Tatsuro
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kaminaga
authors.forename: Teiyu
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Yamauchi
authors.forename: Kumiko
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Konno
authors.forename: Naoyuki
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Yokoyama
authors.forename: Takaaki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Isshiki
mesh_terms: D000792:Angiography / Q000379:methods*; D001808:Blood Vessels / Q000502:physiology*; D003287:Contrast Media; D006801:Humans; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D008955:Models, Cardiovascular; D019047:Phantoms, Imaging; D011856:Radiographic Image Enhancement; D012984:Software; D014055:Tomography, Emission-Computed; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed
chemical_list: D003287:Contrast Media