First Clinical Evaluation of High-Pitch Dual-Source Computed Tomographic Angiography Comparing Automated Tube Potential Selection With Automated Tube Current Modulation

摘要

High-pitch computed tomographic (CT) imaging is now a standard procedure in departments that have access to the technology. Dual-source high-pitch protocols have several important advantages that have led to them becoming more widely used, particularly for imaging the great vessels and in cardiac or cardiothoracic imaging. Suppression of artifacts due to cardiac motion remains the most important factor in imaging of the thoracic region, and high-pitch CT offers the advantage that the ultra-fast image acquisition means that in most cases, cardiac motion is not a factor and motion artifacts are generally absent. Asecond advantage, confirmed by the data published, thus so far is the low radiation dose associated with high-pitch CT; this is particularly important when radiation protection is a priority. To date, most high-pitch imaging has used fixed tube potentials of 100 or 120 kV; both protocols are currently regarded as good practice and generate diagnostic imaging data sets in which the data are not compromised by motion artifacts. The introduction of automated tube potential selection (ATPS) software represents a further interesting step toward minimizing radiation exposure during CT imaging.