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A new technique for noise reduction at coronary CT angiography with multi-phase data-averaging and non-rigid image registration

  • Cardiac
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Abstract

Objectives

To investigate the feasibility of a newly developed noise reduction technique at coronary CT angiography (CTA) that uses multi-phase data-averaging and non-rigid image registration.

Methods

Sixty-five patients underwent coronary CTA with prospective ECG-triggering. The range of the phase window was set at 70–80 % of the R–R interval. First, three sets of consecutive volume data at 70 %, 75 % and 80 % of the R–R interval were prepared. Second, we applied non-rigid registration to align the 70 % and 80 % images to the 75 % image. Finally, we performed weighted averaging of the three images and generated a de-noised image. The image noise and contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) in the proximal coronary arteries between the conventional 75 % and the de-noised images were compared. Two radiologists evaluated the image quality using a 5-point scale (1, poor; 5, excellent).

Results

On de-noised images, mean image noise was significantly lower than on conventional 75 % images (18.3 HU ± 2.6 vs. 23.0 HU ± 3.3, P < 0.01) and the CNR was significantly higher (P < 0.01). The mean image quality score for conventional 75 % and de-noised images was 3.9 and 4.4, respectively (P < 0.01).

Conclusions

Our method reduces image noise and improves image quality at coronary CTA.

Key Points

We introduce a new method for image noise reduction at cardiac CT.

Multiple data acquisitions of an object and their averaging yield lower noise.

Our method uses multi-phase images reconstructed from unused redundant imaging data.

It reduces image noise by averaging multi-phase images transformed by non-rigid registration.

This method achieves a 20 % image noise reduction at cardiac CT.

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Abbreviations

CNR:

Contrast-to-noise ratio

CTA:

Computed tomography angiography

LCX:

Left circumflex coronary artery

LMA:

Left main artery

RCA:

Right coronary artery

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Acknowledgements

The scientific guarantor of this publication is Dr. Kazuo Awai. The authors of this manuscript declare no relationships with any companies whose products or services may be related to the subject matter of the article. This study has received funding by a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C) from the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, KAKENHI 24591765). No complex statistical methods were necessary for this paper. Institutional review board approval was obtained. Written informed consent was waived by the institutional review board. Methodology: retrospective, diagnostic study, performed at one institution.

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Correspondence to Fuminari Tatsugami.

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Tatsugami, F., Higaki, T., Nakamura, Y. et al. A new technique for noise reduction at coronary CT angiography with multi-phase data-averaging and non-rigid image registration. Eur Radiol 25, 41–48 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00330-014-3381-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00330-014-3381-9

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