Noosa Radiology is the only provider of Dual Energy CT on the Sunshine Coast. This technology can make the difference between images and answers, giving us a greater depth of information compared to a traditional single-energy scan.
Why is Dual Energy better?
1. Increased contrast resolution to increase sensitivity in detecting pathology.
2. Reduced radiation dose as non-contrast phase can be reconstructed instead of an additional scan
3. Tissue characterisation gold standard in assessment of gout. Differentiates type of renal calculi to optimise treatment image
4. CT angiography. Improved subtraction of surrounding tissues including bone optimises vessel evaluation
For more information please review these articles from:
Dual Energy CT for Detecting Prosthesis Loosening
Dual Energy in Osteoporotic Fracture Diagnosis
How is this achieved
In contrast to standard computed tomography scanners, Dual Energy CT allows simultaneous acquisition of high and low kV datasets in a single CT scan. In order to create the two datasets necessary for Dual Energy CT processing, a movable split filter is positioned in front of a 120 kV x-ray beam. The filter, composed of gold (Au) and tin (Sn), splits the beam into a high and low energy x-ray spectrum before it reaches the patient.
