Impact of tube current modulation on lesion conspicuity index in hi-resolution chest computed tomography

Tube current modulation is a method employed in the use of CT in an attempt to optimize radiation dose to the patient. The acceptable noise (noise index) can be varied, based on the level of optimization required; higher accepted noise reduces the patient dose. Recent research [1] suggests that measuring the conspicuity index (C.I.) of focal lesions within an image is more reflective of a clinical reader's ability to perceive focal lesions than traditional physical measures such as contrast to noise (CNR) and signal to noise ratio (SNR). Software has been developed and validated to calculate the C.I. in DICOM images. The aim of this work is assess the impact of tube current modulation on conspicuity index and CTDIvol, to indicate the benefits and limitations of tube current modulation on lesion detectability. Method An anthropomorphic chest phantom was used “Lungman” with inserted lesions of varying size and HU (see table below) a range of Hounsfield units and sizes were used to represent the variation in lesion Hounsfield units found. This meant some lesions had negative Hounsfield unit values.