title: Assessment of image quality in soft tissue and bone visualization tasks for a dedicated extremity cone-beam CT system.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To assess visualization tasks using cone-beam CT (CBCT) compared to multi-detector CT (MDCT) for musculoskeletal extremity imaging.
  
  
  METHODS
  Ten cadaveric hands and ten knees were examined using a dedicated CBCT prototype and a clinical multi-detector CT using nominal protocols (80 kVp-108mAs for CBCT; 120 kVp- 300 mAs for MDCT). Soft tissue and bone visualization tasks were assessed by four radiologists using five-point satisfaction (for CBCT and MDCT individually) and five-point preference (side-by-side CBCT versus MDCT image quality comparison) rating tests. Ratings were analyzed using Kruskal-Wallis and Wilcoxon signed-rank tests, and observer agreement was assessed using the Kappa-statistic.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Knee CBCT images were rated "excellent" or "good" (median scores 5 and 4) for "bone" and "soft tissue" visualization tasks. Hand CBCT images were rated "excellent" or "adequate" (median scores 5 and 3) for "bone" and "soft tissue" visualization tasks. Preference tests rated CBCT equivalent or superior to MDCT for bone visualization and favoured the MDCT for soft tissue visualization tasks. Intraobserver agreement for CBCT satisfaction tests was fair to almost perfect (κ ~ 0.26-0.92), and interobserver agreement was fair to moderate (κ ~ 0.27-0.54).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  CBCT provided excellent image quality for bone visualization and adequate image quality for soft tissue visualization tasks.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  • CBCT provided adequate image quality for diagnostic tasks in extremity imaging. • CBCT images were "excellent" for "bone" and "good/adequate" for "soft tissue" visualization tasks. • CBCT image quality was equivalent/superior to MDCT for bone visualization tasks.
authors.affiliation: The Russell H. Morgan Department of Radiology and Radiological Science, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, 21287, USA, demehri2001@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Demehri
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Muhit
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Zbijewski
authors.forename: J W
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Stayman
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Yorkston
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Packard
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Senn
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Foos
authors.forename: G K
authors.initials: GK
authors.lastname: Thawait
authors.forename: L M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Fayad
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Chhabra
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Carrino
authors.forename: J H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Siewerdsen
mesh_terms: D000273:Adipose Tissue / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D001842:Bone and Bones / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D002358:Cartilage, Articular / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D054893:Cone-Beam Computed Tomography / Q000592:standards; D003238:Connective Tissue / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D003258:Consumer Behavior; D006225:Hand; D006801:Humans; D007719:Knee Joint; D008022:Ligaments / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D061330:Multidetector Computed Tomography / Q000592:standards; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D009141:Musculoskeletal System / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D015588:Observer Variation; D019047:Phantoms, Imaging; D011871:Radiology