Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Improving resolution of head and neck CTA using the small x-ray tube focal spot

  • Short Report
  • Published:
Neuroradiology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

CT-resolution depends on tube focal spot size. To investigate the effect of reducing focal spot on vessel wall clarity, 22 patients underwent head and neck CTA acquisition with large and small focal spot size. Hounsfield density profile was assessed for each head and neck vessel separately, and significantly sharper density increase at vessel borders was observed using smaller tube focus by an average of 9.9% to 82° angle degrees (p < .05). In conclusion, spatial resolution of CTA of head and neck vessels can be improved by using the small x-ray tube focal spot.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2

Abbreviations

CT:

Computed tomography

CTA:

Computed tomography angiography.

References

  1. Perisinakis K, Papadakis AE, Damilakis J (2009) The effect of x-ray beam quality and geometry on radiation utilization efficiency in multidetector CT imaging. Med Phys 36:1258–1266. https://doi.org/10.1118/1.3095768

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  2. Gill MK, Vijayananthan A, Kumar G, Jayarani K, Ng K-H, Sun Z (2015) Use of 100 kV versus 120 kV in computed tomography pulmonary angiography in the detection of pulmonary embolism: effect on radiation dose and image quality. Quant Imaging Med Surg 5:524–533. https://doi.org/10.3978/j.issn.2223-4292.2015.04.04

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  3. Haidekker MA (2013) Medical imaging technology, 1st edn. Springer, New York

    Book  Google Scholar 

  4. Kueh A, Warnett JM, Gibbons GJ, Brettschneider J, Nichols TE, Williams MA, Kendall WS (2016) Modelling the penumbra in computed tomography. J Xray Sci Technol 24:583–597. https://doi.org/10.3233/XST-160576

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  5. Oh LCW, Lau KK, Devapalasundaram A, Buchan K, Ardley N, Huynh M (2014) Efficacy of ‘fine’ focal spot imaging in CT abdominal angiography. Eur Radiol 24:3010–3016. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00330-014-3368-6

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Behling R (2017) Medical X-ray sources now and for the future. Nucl Instruments Methods Phys Res Sect A Accel Spectrometers, Detect Assoc Equip 873:43–50. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nima.2017.05.038

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Kalender WA (2006) Computertomographie: Grundlagen, Gerätetechnologie, Bildqualität, Anwendungen. 2. Auflage Public Verlag, Bingen

  8. Schneider CA, Rasband WS, Eliceiri KW (2012) NIH image to ImageJ: 25 years of image analysis. Nat Methods 9:671–675. https://doi.org/10.1038/nmeth.2089

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to acknowledge the radiographers (Department of Neuroradiology, University of Ulm, Günzburg, Germany) for the MRI data acquisitions.

Funding

No funding was received for this study.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Radiology, University of Ulm, Albert-Einstein-Allee 23, 89081, Ulm, Germany

    Johannes Rosskopf, Meinrad Beer & Bernd L. Schmitz

  2. Department of Neuroradiology, University of Ulm, Günzburg, Germany

    Michael Braun & Bernd L. Schmitz

Authors
  1. Johannes Rosskopf
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Michael Braun
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Meinrad Beer
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Bernd L. Schmitz
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Johannes Rosskopf.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical approval

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

Informed consent

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

Additional information

Publisher’s note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Rosskopf, J., Braun, M., Beer, M. et al. Improving resolution of head and neck CTA using the small x-ray tube focal spot. Neuroradiology 61, 953–956 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00234-019-02221-0

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00234-019-02221-0

Keywords

Search

Navigation