• N A Shkumat, J H Siewerdsen, S Richard, N S Paul, J Yorkston, and R Van Metter.
• Department of Medical Biophysics, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario M5G 2M9, Canada.
• Med Phys. 2008 Feb 1; 35 (2): 629-32.

AbstractExperiments were conducted to determine optimal acquisition techniques for bone image decompositions for a prototype dual-energy (DE) imaging system. Technique parameters included kVp pair (denoted [kVp(L)/kVp(H)]) and dose allocation (the proportion of dose in low- and high-energy projections), each optimized to provide maximum signal difference-to-noise ratio in DE images. Experiments involved a chest phantom representing an average patient size and containing simulated ribs and lung nodules. Low- and high-energy kVp were varied from 60-90 and 120-150 kVp, respectively. The optimal kVp pair was determined to be [60/130] kVp, with image quality showing a strong dependence on low-kVp selection. Optimal dose allocation was approximately 0.5-i.e., an equal dose imparted by the low- and high-energy projections. The results complement earlier studies of optimal DE soft-tissue image acquisition, with differences attributed to the specific imaging task. Together, the results help to guide the development and implementation of high-performance DE imaging systems, with applications including lung nodule detection and diagnosis, pneumothorax identification, and musculoskeletal imaging (e.g., discrimination of rib fractures from metastasis).

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