Review paper, review article (Pregledni rad)
Dražen Horvatinec1, 3, Damir Ciprić2, Frane Mihanović3
1 Clinical Hospital “Sveti Duh”, Zagreb, Croatia
2 University of Applied Health Sciences, Zagreb, Croatia
3 University of Split, Faculty of Health Sciences, Split, Croatia
Corresponding author: Dražen Horvatinec, email:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.55378/rv.49.2.3
Abstract
Aim: The objective of this study is to determine whether changing the pitch factor on CT devices affects the quality of the CT scan.
Methods: By using a syntax of keywords and searching the literature, we found 170 potentially relevant articles. Following the application of exclusion and inclusion criteria, we reviewed the complete texts of 39 articles, of which 20 were finally included in the analysis because they met the established criteria for image quality and radiation dose in relation to the pitch factor.
Results: Low Pitch MSCT vs. High Pitch DSCT (11 studies): In 8 studies (72.7%), it was found that the subjective image quality was the same. In 3 studies (27.3%), subjective image quality was subjectively lower with low pitch MSCT than with high pitch DSCT. Crucially, all 11 studies confirmed that a lower radiation dose was used with high pitch DSCT, and a higher dose was used with low pitch MSCT. Low Pitch vs. High Pitch MSCT (3 studies): All three papers found that the subjective image quality was equal regardless of whether low or high pitch was used. In all three cases, low pitch MSCT used higher radiation doses to achieve the same image quality as high pitch MSCT. Low Pitch vs. High Pitch DSCT (6 studies). In three studies, image quality was found to be the same, and in three cases, the image quality was subjectively lower with low pitch DSCT. However, in all 6 cases of low pitch DSCT, higher radiation doses were used compared to high pitch DSCT.
Conclusion: This research did not find a statistically significant influence of the pitch factor on image quality in multi-slice CT devices, but it confirmed that a high pitch factor significantly contributes to the reduction of the patient’s radiation dose.
Keywords: computed tomography, pitch factor, CT scan
Utjecaj pitch faktora na kvalitetu CT snimanja
Sažetak
Cilj ovog istraživanja je utvrditi utječe li se promjenom veličine pitch faktora kod CT uređaja na kvalitetu CT snimanja. U istraživanju je postavljena hipoteza da povećanjem pitch faktora ne utječemo na kvalitetu CT snimanja. Uporabom sintakse ključnih riječi te pretraživanjem literature pronašli smo 170 potencijalno relevantnih članaka. Nakon primjene isključnih i uključnih kriterija pregledali smo cjelovite tekstove 39 članaka, od kojih je 20 na koncu uključeno u analizu našeg istraživanja, jer su odgovarale postavljenim kriterijima kvalitete slike i doze zračenja u odnosu na pitch faktor. Od 11 studija koje su uspoređivale low pitch MSCT i high pitch DSCT, u 8 studija (72,7%) dobiveno je da je subjektivna kvaliteta slike ista. U 3 studije (27,3%) dobiveno je da je subjektivno kvaliteta slike manja s low pitch MSCT-om nego s high pitch DSCT-om. U svih jedanaest studija koje su uspoređivale low pitch MSCT i high pitch DSCT kod high pitch DSCT-a upotrebljavana je manja doza zračenja, a kod low pitch MSCT-a veća doza zračenja. Tri rada uspoređivala su samo low i high pitch kod MSCT uređaja. U sva tri rada pronađeno je da je subjektivna kvaliteta slike jednaka, bez obzira na to koristi li se low ili high pitch. Pri korištenju low pitch MSCT-a za postizanje jednake kvalitete slike kao na high pitch MSCT-u korištene su više doze zračenja u sva tri slučaja. U ukupno 6 radova koji su uspoređivali subjektivnu kvalitetu snimke low pitch DSCT-a i high pitch DSCT-a, u tri studije pronađeno je da je kvaliteta snimke ista, a u tri slučaja da je kvaliteta slike manja s low pitch DSCT-om. Međutim, u svih 6 slučajeva low pitch DSCT-a korištene su veće doze zračenja u odnosu na high pitch DSCT kako bi se postigla bolja subjektivna kvaliteta slike u tih 50% studija. Ovim istraživanjem nije dokazano kako postoji statistički značajan utjecaj pitch faktora na kvalitetu slike kod višeslojnih CT uređaja, ali je potvrđeno kako high pitch faktor značajno utječe na smanjenje doze zračenja bolesnika.
Ključne riječi: kompjuterizirana tomografija, pitch faktor, CT snimanje
