• Holger Wenz, Máté E Maros, Mathias Meyer, Alex Förster, Holger Haubenreisser, Stefan Kurth, Stefan O Schoenberg, Thomas Flohr, Christianne Leidecker, Christoph Groden, Johann Scharf, and Thomas Henzler.
• Department of Neuroradiology, University Medical Center Mannheim, Medical Faculty Mannheim, Heidelberg University, Mannheim, Germany.
• Plos One. 2015 Jan 1; 10 (8): e0136054.

ObjectivesTo prospectively intra-individually compare image quality of a 3rd generation Dual-Source-CT (DSCT) spiral cranial CT (cCT) to a sequential 4-slice Multi-Slice-CT (MSCT) while maintaining identical intra-individual radiation dose levels.Methods35 patients, who had a non-contrast enhanced sequential cCT examination on a 4-slice MDCT within the past 12 months, underwent a spiral cCT scan on a 3rd generation DSCT. CTDIvol identical to initial 4-slice MDCT was applied. Data was reconstructed using filtered backward projection (FBP) and 3rd-generation iterative reconstruction (IR) algorithm at 5 different IR strength levels. Two neuroradiologists independently evaluated subjective image quality using a 4-point Likert-scale and objective image quality was assessed in white matter and nucleus caudatus with signal-to-noise ratios (SNR) being subsequently calculated.ResultsSubjective image quality of all spiral cCT datasets was rated significantly higher compared to the 4-slice MDCT sequential acquisitions (p<0.05). Mean SNR was significantly higher in all spiral compared to sequential cCT datasets with mean SNR improvement of 61.65% (p*Bonferroni0.05<0.0024). Subjective image quality improved with increasing IR levels.ConclusionCombination of 3rd-generation DSCT spiral cCT with an advanced model IR technique significantly improves subjective and objective image quality compared to a standard sequential cCT acquisition acquired at identical dose levels.

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