Protocols

Ultra-high-resolution (UHR) photon-counting CT pulmonary angiography significantly improved visualization of peripheral pulmonary arteries and increased radiologists' diagnostic confidence compared with state-of-the-art dual-energy EID-CT. UHR-PCD-CT achieved substantially higher pulmonary arterial enhancement (568–623 HU…

Photon-counting CT (PCCT) maintained consistent proton range estimation (R80) across different phantom sizes, tissue types, proton beam energies, and imaging doses, whereas dual-energy CT (DECT) became increasingly inaccurate in larger phantoms at reduced radiation dose. Even at low-dose imaging (CTDIvol 5 mGy), PCCT kept…

Among all seven available iterative metal artifact reduction (IMAR) presets, the IMARDental preset unexpectedly provided the strongest reduction of metal artifacts around total knee endoprostheses during ultra-high-resolution photon-counting CT angiography. IMARDental significantly improved objective artifact reduction and…

Dedicated photon-counting CT protocols enabled up to 40% radiation dose reduction and 33% iodine reduction while maintaining diagnostic image quality for thoracoabdominal aortic CTA. Even the combined low-dose/low-contrast (LD/LC) protocol provided objective and subjective image quality comparable to third-generation…

PCCT achieved lower radiation dose and higher signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) than energy-integrating CT across pediatric head phantom models, demonstrating improved dose efficiency for neuroimaging. The greatest radiation dose reduction was observed in the 10-year-old phantom (9% lower CTDIvol at clinically relevant IQL 200),…

Ultra-high-resolution (UHR) coronary CTA with photon-counting CT was feasible in patients with a high coronary calcium burden, providing improved visualization of calcified plaques and adjacent coronary lumen compared with conventional 0.6 mm reconstructions. Reconstruction kernel selection proved critical. Moderate sharp…

Ultra-high-resolution (UHR) photon-counting coronary CT angiography demonstrated significantly higher precision than standard-resolution (SR) PCCT for quantifying coronary stenosis, particularly in heavily calcified vessels. Compared with invasive 3D quantitative coronary angiography (QCA), UHR-PCCT reduced median stenosis…

Photon-counting CT reduced radiation dose by 32% compared with energy-integrating detector CT while significantly improving contrast-to-noise ratio across the coronary, pulmonary, and aortic vascular territories. PCCT achieved pulmonary artery contrast-to-noise ratios with 75 mL contrast equivalent to EID-CT using 98.5 mL,…

Photon-counting CT enabled clinically acceptable radiotherapy treatment planning for all head-and-neck cancer patients, with dose-volume metrics differing by <5% compared with conventional EID-CT plans. Relative electron density (RED) images required no scanner-specific calibration, while 70 keV virtual monoenergetic…

A tailored PCCT coronary CTA protocol achieved 90% fully diagnostic examinations, significantly outperforming the previous EID-CT protocol (78%), despite imaging an older population with substantially higher coronary calcium burden. Diagnostic image quality remained high even in heavily calcified patients, with 77% of…

Combining 120 keV virtual monoenergetic imaging (VMI120) with iterative metal artifact reduction (iMAR) achieved the strongest reduction of metal artifacts after anterior cervical discectomy and fusion (ACDF), particularly around titanium implants. Despite superior artifact suppression, standard polychromatic PCCT images…

Comment: This is not a complete case report Examination Protocol Scanner NAEOTOM Alpha Scan area Heart Scan mode QuantumPlus Scan length 134.52 mm Scan direction Cranio-caudal Scan time 3.6 s Tube voltage 120 kV Effective mAs IQ level 70 Dose modulation CARE Dose4D CTDIvol 28.6 mGy DLP 375 mGy*cm Rotation time 0.25 s Pitch…

A single-session PCCT workflow successfully combined coronary CTA, carotid imaging, lung assessment, and delayed cardiac imaging within one consolidated examination. The protocol integrated UHR coronary PCCTA (0.2 mm) with a high-pitch thoraco-cervical acquisition (0.4 mm), maintaining diagnostic image quality while…

mCTA as the default decision tool: Multiphase CTA replaces binary CTA/CTP thinking by providing sufficient flow dynamics and collateral information for most stroke patients, enabling fast, confident triage without routine perfusion imaging. Head‑to‑heart imaging in the acute phase: Extending the first arterial mCTA phase…