Simulated Dose Reduction for Abdominal CT With Filtered Back Projection Technique: Effect on Liver Lesion Detection and Characterization

摘要

OBJECTIVE. Previous studies have shown the possibility to reduce radiation dose in abdominal Cl' by 25-50% without negatively affecting detection of liver lesions. How radiation dose reduction affects characterization of liver metastases is not as well known. The objective of this study was to investigate how different levels of simulated dose reduction affect the detection and characterization of liver lesions, primarily hypovascular metastases. A secondary objective was to analyze the relationship between the lesion size and contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) and the detection rate.