A study by researchers at RWTH Aachen University Hospital(Aachen,Germany;www.ukaachen.de) has found that a new advanced form of CT imaging called photon-counting computed tomography(PCCT) offers superior cardiovascular imaging quality at a comparable radiation dose to dual-source CT (DSCT) for infants with suspected cardiac defects.

PCCT is an emerging imaging technique that records the exact count and energy measurements of incoming X-ray photons.In comparison to DSCT,PCCT delivers higher image resolution and/or lower radiation doses, a feature that is especially useful in pediatric imaging.

The researchers found that the PCCT images were sharper, had less image noise,and demonstrated higher contrast than DSCT images.

The mean overall visual quality of the images was higher for PCCT than DSCT,using a similar radiation dose.