Tungsten-Based Contrast Agent for Photon-Counting Detector CT Angiography in Calcified Coronaries: Comparison to Iodine in a Cardiovascular Phantom.

Thomas SartorettiMichael C McDermottLion StammenBibi MartensLukas J MoserGregor JostHubertus PietschRalf GutjahrTristan NowakBernhard SchmidtThomas G FlohrJoachim E WildbergerHatem Alkadhi

Published in: Investigative radiology (2024)

Tungsten's attenuation characteristics in relation to VMI energy levels are reversed to those of iodine, with tungsten exhibiting high attenuation values at high keV levels and vice versa. Thus, tungsten shows promise for high keV imaging CCTA with PCD-CT as-in distinction to iodine-both high vessel attenuation and low blooming artifacts from calcified plaques can be achieved.

Keyphrases

dual energy
image quality
computed tomography
magnetic resonance
contrast enhanced
high resolution
machine learning
monte carlo