Improved Detection of Benign and Malignant Rib Lesions in the Routine Computed Tomography Workup of Oncological Patients Using Automated Unfolded Rib Image Postprocessing

Objective The aim of this study was to evaluate the performance of the automated computed tomography (CT) postprocessing software unfolded rib images for improved detection of both benign and malignant rib lesions during routine diagnostic workup of oncological patients. Materials and Methods One thousand eight in-patients and out-patients (63.66 ± 14.25 years; range, 18.67–95.67 years; 405 females and 603 males), undergoing chest CT between July 2018 to January 2019 at our institution, were retrospectively evaluated. Patients underwent chest CT alone or as part of a whole-body CT staging/restaging. The CT protocol consisted of the following: 120 kV; 100 mAs; matrix, 512 × 512; collimation, 0.6 mm; reconstructed section thickness of 3 mm and 1 mm using a soft tissue spatial resolution kernel (I30f) and a sharp kernel (B70f). Both transversal image data sets were used for “conventional” diagnosis including coronal reformates with 3-mm slice thickness. One-millimeter slice thickness image data sets of all patients were additionally directed from the scanner to a computational server where they were automatically postprocessed to 3-dimensional unfolded ribs. The “unfolding” of the rib using the centerline as an axis allows a synchronous display and rotation of all ribs by mouse scrolling. These postprocessed image data sets were evaluated in a separate reading session (approximately 4 weeks later). The readers had no information about the underlying medical hist...
Source: Investigative Radiology - Category: Radiology Tags: Special Issue on Advances in CT - Part II Source Type: research