{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,22]],"date-time":"2026-01-22T21:52:32Z","timestamp":1769118752505,"version":"3.49.0"},"reference-count":40,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"12","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2021,12,16]],"date-time":"2021-12-16T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1639612800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"European Union Horizon 2020","award":["643694"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["643694"]}]},{"name":"France Life Imaging (FLI)","award":["N\/A"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["N\/A"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Diagnostics"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Aims: To evaluate spectral photon-counting CT\u2019s (SPCCT) objective image quality characteristics in vitro, compared with standard-of-care energy-integrating-detector (EID) CT. Methods: We scanned a thorax phantom with a coronary artery module at 10 mGy on a prototype SPCCT and a clinical dual-layer EID-CT under various conditions of simulated patient size (small, medium, and large). We used filtered back-projection with a soft-tissue kernel. We assessed noise and contrast-dependent spatial resolution with noise power spectra (NPS) and target transfer functions (TTF), respectively. Detectability indices (d\u2019) of simulated non-calcified and lipid-rich atherosclerotic plaques were computed using the non-pre-whitening with eye filter model observer. Results: SPCCT provided lower noise magnitude (9\u201338% lower NPS amplitude) and higher noise frequency peaks (sharper noise texture). Furthermore, SPCCT provided consistently higher spatial resolution (30\u201333% better TTF10). In the detectability analysis, SPCCT outperformed EID-CT in all investigated conditions, providing superior d\u2019. SPCCT reached almost perfect detectability (AUC \u2248 95%) for simulated 0.5-mm-thick non-calcified plaques (for large-sized patients), whereas EID-CT had lower d\u2019 (AUC \u2248 75%). For lipid-rich atherosclerotic plaques, SPCCT achieved 85% AUC vs. 77.5% with EID-CT. Conclusions: SPCCT outperformed EID-CT in detecting simulated coronary atherosclerosis and might enhance diagnostic accuracy by providing lower noise magnitude, markedly improved spatial resolution, and superior lipid core detectability.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/diagnostics11122376","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2021,12,16]],"date-time":"2021-12-16T11:27:36Z","timestamp":1639654056000},"page":"2376","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":39,"title":["Performance of Spectral Photon-Counting Coronary CT Angiography and Comparison with Energy-Integrating-Detector CT: Objective Assessment with Model Observer"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"11","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-6321-3180","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"David C.","family":"Rotzinger","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology, Lausanne University Hospital (CHUV), Rue du Bugnon 46, CH 1011 Lausanne, Switzerland"},{"name":"Faculty of Biology and Medicine (FBM), University of Lausanne (UNIL), CH 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Damien","family":"Racine","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Biology and Medicine (FBM), University of Lausanne (UNIL), CH 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland"},{"name":"Institute of Radiation Physics, Lausanne University Hospital (CHUV), CH 1007 Lausanne, Switzerland"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-8444-8504","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Fabio","family":"Becce","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology, Lausanne University Hospital (CHUV), Rue du Bugnon 46, CH 1011 Lausanne, Switzerland"},{"name":"Faculty of Biology and Medicine (FBM), University of Lausanne (UNIL), CH 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Elias","family":"Lahoud","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"CT\/AMI Research and Development, Philips Medical Systems, Haifa 31004, Israel"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Klaus","family":"Erhard","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Philips GmbH Innovative Technologies, Philips Research Laboratories, 22335 Hamburg, Germany"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-0314-4010","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Salim A.","family":"Si-Mohamed","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Radiology Department, Hospices Civils de Lyon, 69500 Lyon, France"},{"name":"Facult\u00e9 de M\u00e9decine Lyon Est, Universit\u00e9 Claude Bernard Lyon 1, CREATIS, CNRS UMR 5220, INSERM U1206, INSA-Lyon, 69100 Lyon, France"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Jo\u00ebl","family":"Greffier","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Medical Imaging, CHU Nimes, University of Montpellier, 30900 Nimes, France"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Ana\u00efs","family":"Viry","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Biology and Medicine (FBM), University of Lausanne (UNIL), CH 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland"},{"name":"Institute of Radiation Physics, Lausanne University Hospital (CHUV), CH 1007 Lausanne, Switzerland"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Lo\u00efc","family":"Boussel","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Radiology Department, Hospices Civils de Lyon, 69500 Lyon, France"},{"name":"Facult\u00e9 de M\u00e9decine Lyon Est, Universit\u00e9 Claude Bernard Lyon 1, CREATIS, CNRS UMR 5220, INSERM U1206, INSA-Lyon, 69100 Lyon, France"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-9573-3076","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Reto A.","family":"Meuli","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology, Lausanne University Hospital (CHUV), Rue du Bugnon 46, CH 1011 Lausanne, Switzerland"},{"name":"Faculty of Biology and Medicine (FBM), University of Lausanne (UNIL), CH 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Yoad","family":"Yagil","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"CT\/AMI Research and Development, Philips Medical Systems, Haifa 31004, Israel"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Pascal","family":"Monnin","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Biology and Medicine (FBM), University of Lausanne (UNIL), CH 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland"},{"name":"Institute of Radiation Physics, Lausanne University Hospital (CHUV), CH 1007 Lausanne, Switzerland"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Philippe C.","family":"Douek","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Radiology Department, Hospices Civils de Lyon, 69500 Lyon, France"},{"name":"Facult\u00e9 de M\u00e9decine Lyon Est, Universit\u00e9 Claude Bernard Lyon 1, CREATIS, CNRS UMR 5220, INSERM U1206, INSA-Lyon, 69100 Lyon, France"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2021,12,16]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"48","DOI":"10.1148\/radiol.2441052145","article-title":"Coronary CT angiography","volume":"244","author":"Schoepf","year":"2007","journal-title":"Radiology"},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1016","DOI":"10.1259\/0007-1285-46-552-1016","article-title":"Computerized transverse axial scanning (tomography). 1. 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