Performance assessment of a new dynamic scan mode for perfusion computed tomography using a biological phantom

Perfusion computed tomography is increasingly being used for stroke and tumor assessment. Using continuous periodic table movement the spatial coverage can be increased beyond the detector width with a new adaptive spiral scanning technique (A4DS). The purpose of this study was to compare perfusion values acquired with the A4DS technique with results from standard dynamic scans at different temporal sampling rates. A biological perfusion phantom (preserved porcine kidney) was scanned with both techniques. In standard mode three scans were performed at adjacent overlapping positions (detector width 38.4 mm) covering the whole phantom. Data were reconstructed with temporal resolutions of 0.5, 1 and 1.5 s. The A4DS scan was performed with a cycle time of 1.5 s and scan ranges of 100 and 148 mm respectively. The phantom was not repositioned between scans in order to assure that identical image slices showed identical phantom slices. Tissue flow was calculated with a deconvolution type algorithm. Regions of interest were drawn in strongly and moderately enhancing areas and around the whole cortex in three slices in the upper, central and lower portion of the phantom. In the flow range of 40 to 100 ml/100ml/min values did not differ by more than 5 ml/100ml/min between any of the scan protocols used. The correlation between the continuous table movement modes and the 0.5 s standard mode was excellent (r2>0.98) indicating that the new mode is well suited for perfusion measurements and allows increasing the coverage by almost a factor of four.