Monday, November 28 | 10:00 a.m.-10:30 a.m. | M3-STCE-3 | Learning Center Theater
Photon-counting CT could improve the image quality of pediatric chest exams compared with conventional CT -- without increasing radiation dose, a group from Duke University in Durham, NC, has found.Presenter Dr. Fides Schwartz and colleagues conducted a study that included 17 children who underwent contrast-enhanced chest CT exams that targeted the venous phase with both a conventional scanner and a photon-counting detector device. The group tracked radiation dose per scan using the volumetric CT dose index (CTDIvol) and calculated contrast-to-noise and signal-to-noise ratios for each scanner. Mean patient age was 7.
The researchers found that the mean CTDIvol was comparable between conventional CT and photon-counting CT (3.8 mGy vs. 3.6 mGy). Contrast-to-noise ratio was higher for thymus tissue on photon-counting CT, but not for pectoralis muscle. Compared with conventional CT, signal-to-noise ratio was higher on photon-counting CT in thymus tissue and pectoralis muscle.
What do these results suggest? Photon-counting CT offers "better quantitative image quality at similar radiation doses than conventional energy-integrating CT for pediatric chest imaging with intravenous contrast," the group concluded.
You can see for yourself by sitting in on this Monday morning presentation.
![Images show the pectoralis muscles of a healthy male individual who never smoked (age, 66 years; height, 178 cm; body mass index [BMI, calculated as weight in kilograms divided by height in meters squared], 28.4; number of cigarette pack-years, 0; forced expiratory volume in 1 second [FEV1], 97.6% predicted; FEV1: forced vital capacity [FVC] ratio, 0.71; pectoralis muscle area [PMA], 59.4 cm2; pectoralis muscle volume [PMV], 764 cm3) and a male individual with a smoking history and chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder (COPD) (age, 66 years; height, 178 cm; BMI, 27.5; number of cigarette pack-years, 43.2, FEV1, 48% predicted; FEV1:FVC, 0.56; PMA, 35 cm2; PMV, 480.8 cm3) from the Canadian Cohort Obstructive Lung Disease (i.e., CanCOLD) study. The CT image is shown in the axial plane. The PMV is automatically extracted using the developed deep learning model and overlayed onto the lungs for visual clarity.](https://img.auntminnie.com/mindful/smg/workspaces/default/uploads/2026/03/genkin.25LqljVF0y.jpg?auto=format%2Ccompress&crop=focalpoint&dpr=2&fit=crop&h=167&q=70&w=250)
