Application of low-dose CT scan in 3D printing of cerebral artery

Abstract:

Objective：To investigate the feasibility of low-dose CT scan in 3D printing of the cerebral artery. Methods：A total of 40 patients who planned to undergo 3D printing of the cerebral artery were randomly divided into groups A and B，with 20 patients in each group. The patients in group A underwent CT at a conventional dose（120 kVp，350 mA） and filtered back projection，and those in group B underwent low-dose CT scan（80 kVp），automatic tube current modulation（ATCM），and adaptive statistical iterative re－construction（ASIR）；the concentration of contrast agent was 350 mgI/mL for both groups. The two-independent-samples t test was used for comparison of clinical data，radiation dose，objective evaluation indices of CT DICOM data，and subjective score of 3D printing quality between the two groups，and the Mann-Whitney U test was used for comparison of non-normally distributed data. Results：There were no significant differences in clinical data between groups A and B（P>0.05）. There was a significant difference in radiation dose between the two groups（P<0.05），and the radiation dose in group B was 68.7% lower than that in group A[（1.30±0.47） mSv vs. （4.15±0.62） mSv]. There was no significant difference in the subjective score of 3D printing quality between the two groups（P>0.05）. As for the objective evaluation indices of CT DICOM data，compared with group B，group A had significantly higher background noise and significantly lower signal-to-noise ratio and contrast-to-noise ratio（P<0.001）. Conclusion：3D printing of the cerebral artery us－ing 80 kVp，ATCM，and ASIR can effectively reduce radiation dose and guarantee the quality of 3D printing.