title: The Detection of Focal Liver Lesions Using Abdominal CT: A Comparison of Image Quality Between Adaptive Statistical Iterative Reconstruction V and Adaptive Statistical Iterative Reconstruction.
abstract: To investigate image quality characteristics of abdominal computed tomography (CT) scans reconstructed with adaptive statistical iterative reconstruction V (ASIR-V) vs currently using applied adaptive statistical iterative reconstruction (ASIR).
  
  
  
  This institutional review board-approved study included 35 consecutive patients who underwent CT of the abdomen. Among these 35 patients, 27 with focal liver lesions underwent abdomen CT with a 128-slice multidetector unit using the following parameters: fixed noise index of 30, 1.25 mm slice thickness, 120 kVp, and a gantry rotation time of 0.5 seconds. CT images were analyzed depending on the method of reconstruction: ASIR (30%, 50%, and 70%) vs ASIR-V (30%, 50%, and 70%). Three radiologists independently assessed randomized images in a blinded manner. Imaging sets were compared to focal lesion detection numbers, overall image quality, and objective noise with a paired sample t test. Interobserver agreement was assessed with the intraclass correlation coefficient.
  
  
  
  The detection of small focal liver lesions (<10 mm) was significantly higher when ASIR-V was used when compared to ASIR (P <0.001). Subjective image noise, artifact, and objective image noise in liver were generally significantly better for ASIR-V compared to ASIR, especially in 50% ASIR-V. Image sharpness and diagnostic acceptability were significantly worse in 70% ASIR-V compared to various levels of ASIR.
  
  
  
  Images analyzed using 50% ASIR-V were significantly better than three different series of ASIR or other ASIR-V conditions at providing diagnostically acceptable CT scans without compromising image quality and in the detection of focal liver lesions.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Dong-A Univerisity Hospital, Pusan, South Korea.
authors.forename: Sangyun
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Dong-A Univerisity Hospital, Pusan, South Korea. Electronic address: risual@dau.ac.kr.
authors.forename: Heejin
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kwon
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Dong-A Univerisity Hospital, Pusan, South Korea.
authors.forename: Jihan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Cho
mesh_terms: D016477:Artifacts; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008099:Liver / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D008107:Liver Diseases / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D061330:Multidetector Computed Tomography / Q000379:methods*; D015588:Observer Variation; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011829:Radiation Dosage; D011857:Radiographic Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted / Q000379:methods; D011860:Radiography, Abdominal / Q000379:methods
keywords: Computed tomography; diagnosis; image quality; iterative reconstruction