title: Detection of pure ground-glass nodules in the lung by low-dose multi-detector computed tomography, with use of an iterative reconstruction method: a comparison with conventional image reconstruction by the filtered back-projection method.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the feasibility of the iterative reconstruction (IR) method with low-dose multi-detector computed tomography (MDCT) for lung cancer screening.
  
  
  METHODS
  A chest CT phantom containing simulated ground-glass nodules (GGNs) of 5 different sizes was scanned by use of 16-row and 64-row MDCT. Tube currents of 10, 20, and 30 mA were used for the low-dose CT. To assess the detectability of pure GGNs, a radiologist-performance test was conducted. Mean visual scores for simulated GGNs were compared for reconstructed images from filtered back-projection (FBP) and the IR method.
  
  
  RESULTS
  When 64-row MDCT was used, visual scores for simulated GGNs were significantly higher for the IR method than for the FBP method under any conditions; scores were also significantly higher for 16-row MDCT under some conditions.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results of this experimental chest phantom study showed that use of the IR method improved the detectability of simulated pure GGNs.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Yokohama City Medical College, 3-9, Hukuura, Kanazawa, Yokohama, Kanagawa, 236-0004, Japan, aka1010star@yahoo.co.jp.
authors.forename: Shiho
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Akashita
authors.forename: Yasuhiko
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Tachibana
authors.forename: Kentaro
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sakamaki
authors.forename: Keiji
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sogawa
authors.forename: Tomio
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Inoue
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D061330:Multidetector Computed Tomography / Q000379:methods*; D019047:Phantoms, Imaging