Prospective evaluation of thoracic diseases using a compact flat-panel detector spiral computed tomographic scanner

• Published in: European journal of radiology Open 2022-01, Vol.9, p.100452-100452, Article 100452
• Main Authors: Kim, Da Som, Yoo, Seung-Jin, Hong, Jung Hee, Kwak, Nakwon, Yim, Jae-Joon, Yoon, Soon Ho
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Computed tomography; Diagnosis; Flat panel detector; Original; Thoracic disease
• ISSN: 2352-0477; 2352-0477
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ejro.2022.100452

To prospectively evaluate the image quality and diagnostic performance of a compact flat-panel detector (FD) scanner for thoracic diseases compared to a clinical CT scanner. The institutional review board approved this single-center prospective study, and all participants provided informed consent. From December 2020 to May 2021, 30 patients (mean age, 67.1 ± 8.3 years) underwent two same-day low-dose chest CT scans using clinical state-of-art and compact FDCT scanners. Image quality was assessed visually and quantitatively. Two readers evaluated the diagnostic performance for nodules, parenchymal opacifications, bronchiectasis, linear opacities, and pleural abnormalities in 40 paired CT scans. The other 20 paired CT scans were used to examine the agreement of semi-quantitative CT scoring regarding bronchiectasis, bronchiolitis, nodules, airspace consolidations, and cavities. FDCT images had significantly lower visual image quality than clinical CT images (all p  0.05), and intraclass correlation coefficients were around 0.950 or higher, except for bronchiectasis (0.869). Compact FDCT images provided lower image quality but comparable diagnostic performance to clinical CT images for nodules, parenchymal opacifications, linear opacities, and pleural abnormalities.