Contrast media injection protocol optimization for dual-energy coronary CT angiography. results from a circulation phantom
Objectives: To investigate the minimum iodine delivery rate (IDR) required to achieve diagnostic coronary attenuation (300 HU) with dual-energy coronary CTA. Methods: Acquisitions were performed on a circulation phantom with a third- generation dual-source CT scanner. Contrast media was injected for a fixed time whilst IDRs varied from 1.0 to 0.3 gI/s in 0.1-gI/s intervals. Noise-optimized virtual monoenergetic imaging (VMI+) reconstructions from 40 to 90 keV in 5 keV increments were generated. Contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) and coronary HU were measured for each injection.