title: Reduction of Metal Artifact with Dual-Energy CT: Virtual Monospectral Imaging with Fast Kilovoltage Switching and Metal Artifact Reduction Software.
abstract: Imaging of patients with metal implants is a common activity for radiologists, and overcoming metal artifacts during computed tomography (CT) is still a challenge. Virtual monochromatic spectral (VMS) imaging with dual-energy CT has been reported to reduce beam-hardening metal artifact effectively. Dual-energy CT allows the synthesis of VMS images. Monochromatic images depict how the imaged object would look if the X-ray source produced X-ray photons at only a single-energy level. For this reason, VMS imaging improve image quality by reducing beam-hardening artifacts. Additional metal artifact reduction postprocessing such as metal artifact reduction software can be applied to improve the visualization of the bone-prosthesis interface, periprosthetic areas, and soft tissue near and far from the metal implant. This article summarizes how virtual monochromatic images are synthesized from dual-energy CT, and it describes and illustrates our clinical experience with a single-source dual-energy scanner with fast kilovoltage switching to reduce beam hardening in patients with metal implants.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Centre Cardiologique du Nord, Saint Denis, France.
authors.forename: Eric
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Pessis
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Centre Cardiologique du Nord, Saint Denis, France.
authors.forename: Jean-Michel
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Sverzut
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology B, Hôpital Cochin, Université Paris Descartes, Paris, France.
authors.forename: Raphaël
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Campagna
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology B, Hôpital Cochin, Université Paris Descartes, Paris, France.
authors.forename: Henri
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Guerini
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology B, Hôpital Cochin, Université Paris Descartes, Paris, France.
authors.forename: Antoine
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Feydy
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology B, Hôpital Cochin, Université Paris Descartes, Paris, France.
authors.forename: Jean-Luc
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Drapé
mesh_terms: D016477:Artifacts; D006801:Humans; D008670:Metals; D011829:Radiation Dosage; D011857:Radiographic Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted / Q000379:methods*; D015900:Radiography, Dual-Energy Scanned Projection / Q000379:methods*; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D008670:Metals