RSNA 2012 caps an extraordinary year for CT fans who like their technology high and their radiation doses low. The CT-focused scientific sessions at this year's show -- a few dozen of which are highlighted below -- explore a broad array of CT topics that are driven, more than anything, by the need to get more image information with less radiation.
Scanning with different x-ray energies has really blossomed this year thanks to new, more adaptable CT hardware and software that brings the data to life. To note a couple of the many presentations on this topic, researchers from the University of Michigan are using high-kV virtual monochromatic images to get a better look at spine hardware (Wednesday, November 28, 11:10 a.m.-11:20 a.m., SSK11-05, Room N230).
Meanwhile, a Harvard team is using multienergy CT to boost the accuracy of its virtual colonoscopy computer-aided detection (CAD) software (Tuesday, November 27, 3:50 p.m.-4:00 p.m., SSJ08-06, Room E353C). And Italian researchers are using iodine quantification to better characterize renal masses (Friday, November 30, 11:30 a.m.-11:40 a.m., SST07-07, Room E351).
New photon-counting CT detectors are making better use of energy information, offering big opportunities for dose reduction and, in one case, separating vulnerable from stable coronary artery plaque (Monday, November 26, 3:10 p.m.-3:20 p.m., SSE21-02, Room S403A). Faster scanners are cutting contrast doses too (Monday, November 26, 3:10 p.m.-3:20 p.m., SSE05-02, Room S404CD).
In cardiac imaging, what's the reason behind higher rates of myocardial infarction among blacks? Researchers from the Medical University of South Carolina take a stab at the question (Monday, November 26, 11:40 a.m.-11: 50 a.m., SSC02-08, Room S504AB). And a Johns Hopkins University team is getting anatomic, functional, and motion information out of a single 64-detector-row coronary CT angiography (CTA) scan (Wednesday, November 28, 3:40 p.m.-3:50 p.m., SSM03-05, Room S502AB).
And you won't want to miss the results of ROMICAT II, demonstrating that coronary CTA cuts hospital time and leaves patients better off than standard care (Wednesday, November 28, 8:30 a.m.-8:45 a.m., VSCA41-01, Room S502AB).
But wait, there's more: Characterizing emphysema in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder has made considerable progress this year; one group is using low-attenuating clusters to identify affected regions (Monday, November 26, 10:30 a.m.-10:40 a.m., SSC03-01, Room S404AB). Spectral CT is being used to distinguish gastric cancer types (Tuesday, November 27, 10:50 a.m.-11: 00 a.m., SSG16-03, Room S403B).
But iterative reconstruction won't alter the diagnosis in diffuse lung disease (Tuesday, November 27, 11:20 a.m.-11:30 a.m., SSG05-06, Room S405AB). A new LUNG-RADS system for lung cancer screening with CT aims to standardize the reporting of findings, akin to what's been done in breast and colorectal cancer screening (Thursday, November 29, 11:40 a.m.-11:50 a.m., SSQ10-08, Room S403A).
To help you plan an impossibly busy RSNA 2012, we invite you to scroll through our conversations with the study authors on all of these CT topics in the links below. To view the RSNA's listing of abstracts for this year's scientific and educational program, click here.
And have a great meeting!
