Feasibility of bronchial wall quantification in low‐ and ultralow‐dose third‐generation dual‐source CT: An ex vivo lung study

PURPOSE: To investigate image quality and bronchial wall quantification in low‐ and ultralow‐dose third‐generation dual‐source computed tomography (CT). METHODS: A lung specimen from a formerly healthy male was scanned using third‐generation dual‐source CT at standard‐dose (51 mAs/120 kV, CTDI(vol) 3.41 mGy), low‐dose (1/4th and 1/10th of standard dose), and ultralow‐dose setting (1/20th). Low kV (70, 80, 90, and Sn100 kV) scanning was applied in each low/ultralow‐dose setting, combined with adaptive mAs to keep a constant dose. Images were reconstructed at advanced modeled iterative reconstruction (ADMIRE) levels 1, 3, and 5 for each scan. Bronchial wall were semi‐automatically measured from the lobar level to subsegmental level. Spearman correlation analysis was performed between bronchial wall quantification (wall thickness and wall area percentage) and protocol settings (dose, kV, and ADMIRE). ANOVA with a post hoc pairwise test was used to compare signal‐to‐noise ratio (SNR), noise and bronchial wall quantification values among standard‐ and low/ultralow‐dose settings, and among ADMIRE levels. RESULTS: Bronchial wall quantification had no correlation with dose level, kV, or ADMIRE level (|correlation coefficients| < 0.3). SNR and noise showed no statistically significant differences at different kV in the same ADMIRE level (1, 3, or 5) and in the same dose group (P > 0.05). Generally, there were no significant differences in bronchial wall quantification among the standard‐ and low/ultralow‐dose settings, and among different ADMIRE levels (P > 0.05). CONCLUSION: The combined use of low/ultralow‐dose scanning and ADMIRE does not influence bronchial wall quantification compared to standard‐dose CT. This specimen study suggests the potential that an ultralow‐dose scan can be used for bronchial wall quantification.