Automatic cerebral computed tomography venographic imaging based on the prior knowledge of cerebral blood circulation

• Published in: Journal of neuroradiology 2023-11, Vol.50 (6), p.556-561
• Main Authors: Chen, Siqi, Su, Ting, Wang, Yicong, Li, Zixiao, Li, Yinsheng, Ge, Yongshuai, Mi, Donghua
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Cerebral computed tomography venographic imaging; Cerebral venous outflow; Neuroimaging; Stroke
• ISSN: 0150-9861
• DOI: 10.1016/j.neurad.2023.02.002

•An automatic cerebral computed tomography venographic imaging technique is proposed.•Cerebral veins are clearly visible, specifically the dural sinus and superficial vein.•Novel criteria are proposed for assessing cerebral venographic image quality. Current clinical computed tomography venographic (cCTV) images present limited cerebral venous profiles. Therefore, this study aimed to develop an automatic cerebral CTV imaging technique using computed tomographic perfusion (CTP) images in a cohort of patients with stroke. We retrospectively evaluated 10 (intracerebral hemorrhage) and 2 (acute ischemic stroke) patients who underwent institutional CTP imaging. CTV images were processed with the proposed CTV (pCTV) technique, and pCTV and cCTV images were then independently evaluated by two experienced neuroradiologists blinded to all clinical information using a novel scoring method that considered overall image quality, venous visibility, and arterial mis-segmentation. Venous visibility was separately evaluated for the dural sinus, superficial vein, and deep vein. Then, statistical analysis was performed to determine whether the pCTV technique was superior to the cCTV technique. In total, 14 sets of pCTV images were generated and compared with cCTV images. The overall image quality and venous visibility scores of pCTV images were significantly higher than those of cCTV images (all values of p