Advanced modelled iterative reconstruction for abdominal CT: Qualitative and quantitative evaluation

Aim To determine qualitative and quantitative image-quality parameters in abdominal imaging using advanced modelled iterative reconstruction (ADMIRE) with third-generation dual-source 192 section CT. Materials and methods Forty patients undergoing abdominal portal-venous CT at different tube voltage levels (90, 100, 110, and 120 kVp, n = 10 each) and 10 consecutive patients undergoing abdominal non-enhanced low-dose CT (100 kVp, 60 mAs) using a third-generation dual-source 192 section CT machine in the single-source mode were included. Images were reconstructed with filtered back projection (FBP) and ADMIRE (strength levels 1–5). Two blinded, independent readers subjectively determined image noise, artefacts, visibility of small structures, and image contrast, and measured attenuation in the liver, spleen, kidney, muscle, fat, and urinary bladder, and objective image noise. Results Subjective noise was significantly lower and image contrast significantly higher for each increasing ADMIRE strength level and also for ADMIRE 1 compared to FBP (all, p 0.05). Attenuation was similar across tube voltage-image datasets in all anatomical regions (all, p > 0.05). Objective noise was significantly lower for each increasing ADMIRE strength level, and for ADMIRE 1 compared to FBP (all, p