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Dual Energy CT in Liver Tumors

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Dual Energy CT in Oncology

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Abstract

DECT applications in liver imaging are based on two distinct capabilities: (1) material differentiation and (2) material identification and quantification. The possibility to obtain different material-specific (iodine mapping and virtual unenhanced (VU) images) or energy-specific (virtual monoenergetic images) datasets during a single scan may provide several advantages in oncological imaging. The calculation of VU images may replace the acquisition of pre-contrast images, therefore substantially lowering the radiation burden. Iodine maps can be useful to improve visualization and detection of contrast uptake, potentially increasing the diagnostic confidence for assessment of lesion contrast enhancement. Virtual monoenergetic images at low energy levels are beneficial in increasing image contrast, thus potentially improving the visualization and assessment of both hypovascular and hypervascular liver lesions. All these applications, if routinely applied, could improve the safety of CT examinations by reducing the radiation dose and contrast medium amount administered, while at the same time enhancing the detection and characterization of liver lesions.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Radiology and Radiological Science, Medical University of South Carolina, 25 Courtenay Drive, Charleston, SC, 29425, USA

    Carlo N. De Cecco MD, PhD, Julian L. Wichmann MD, Giuseppe Muscogiuri MD & Andrew Hardie MD

  2. Department of Radiological Sciences, Oncology and Pathology, University of Rome “Sapienza”, Rome, Italy

    Carlo N. De Cecco MD, PhD, Giuseppe Muscogiuri MD & Andrea Laghi MD

  3. Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology, University Hospital Frankfurt, Frankfurt, Germany

    Julian L. Wichmann MD

Authors
  1. Carlo N. De Cecco MD, PhD
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  2. Julian L. Wichmann MD
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  3. Giuseppe Muscogiuri MD
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  4. Andrew Hardie MD
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  5. Andrea Laghi MD
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Carlo N. De Cecco MD, PhD .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, South Carolina, USA

    Carlo N. De Cecco

  2. Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy

    Andrea Laghi

  3. Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, South Carolina, USA

    U. Joseph Schoepf

  4. Ludwig-Maximilians-University Hospital, Munich, Germany

    Felix G. Meinel

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© 2015 Springer International Publishing Switzerland

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De Cecco, C.N., Wichmann, J.L., Muscogiuri, G., Hardie, A., Laghi, A. (2015). Dual Energy CT in Liver Tumors. In: De Cecco, C., Laghi, A., Schoepf, U., Meinel, F. (eds) Dual Energy CT in Oncology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-19563-6_5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-19563-6_5

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-19562-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-19563-6

  • eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)

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