Photon-counting CT offers numerous benefits in lung cancer imaging
New research suggests that photon-counting computed tomography scans outshine conventional contrasted chest CT for follow-up imaging of lung cancer.
Patients who have been diagnosed with the disease require routine imaging to monitor treatment effectiveness and ensure their cancer has not progressed or recurred. This is typically done via standard contrast-enhanced CT scans. Though effective, the standard of care comes with caveats, including increased exposure to both radiation and contrast media. What’s more, image quality can vary based on patient size, which can negatively affect lesion detection and characterization.
Experts believe that emerging photon-counting technology can help address these shortcomings. Published in RSNA’s flagship journal, Radiology, a new paper details numerous benefits photon-counting CT scans have over conventional CTs, including reduced radiation exposure and enhanced lesion visualization. Experts involved in the study went as far as to suggest that the advanced technology could replace conventional CTs in certain settings soon.
The team’s work focused on 200 adults who had been diagnosed with lung cancer. Participants underwent either a routine contrast-enhanced chest CT or a low-dose, ultrahigh-resolution photon-counting CT (PCCT). Lesion image quality, malignant radiologic features and diagnostic confidence were analyzed using a five-point Likert scale, with additional comparisons assessing how patient body mass index and lesion size affected the image quality of both scans.
PCCT significantly reduced patients’ radiation exposure, decreasing their effective dose by over 66% compared to the standard of care. Iodine exposure in the PCCT group was lower as well, falling by around 26%. Those who underwent PCCT also experienced fewer adverse effects, including acute kidney injury, related to contrast media.
PCCT exams also shined in terms of image quality. At a 0.4 mm section thickness, PCCT yielded improved visualization, higher detection and greater diagnostic confidence for enhancement-related malignant features. This, experts suggest, indicates PCCT is suitable for a wide range of patients, including those with higher BMI and smaller lesions.
“Effective follow-up of cancer patients enhances early detection and survival, with regular imaging identifying recurrence in 60% to 100% of cases,” explained Songwei Yue, MD, deputy director of the Department of Radiology at the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University in Henan, China. “Compared with conventional CT, low-dose, ultrahigh-resolution, photon-counting CT improves the detection of enhancement-related malignant features across varying BMI and tumor sizes. It enhanced diagnostic confidence while reducing radiation exposure and contrast media use,” the doctor added later.
Read more from the study here.
In addition to her background in journalism, Hannah also has patient-facing experience in clinical settings, having spent more than 12 years working as a registered rad tech. She began covering the medical imaging industry for Innovate Healthcare in 2021.