Purpose: We compared the quality of the images acquired with single energy metal artifact reduction (SEMAR) on CT scans of three different human body areas.
Materials and methods: Our institutional review board approved the study protocol. CT studies of 58 patients (hip prosthesis, n = 20; iliac artery aneurysm embolization, n = 20; dental prosthesis, n = 18) were retrospectively reconstructed using interactive reconstruction (IR) and IR plus SEMAR. Two radiologists independently evaluated the images for the reduction of metal artifacts at three sites, i.e., 0-1, 1-5, and 5-10 cm from their edges, and recorded their findings on a 100-mm-long line that corresponded to the Likert scale and ranged from 0 (invisible) to 100 mm (clearly visible). The standard deviation in Hounsfield units was used as the noise assessment tool. Statistical analysis was performed with the t test and the Wilcoxon signed-rank test.
Results: The image quality of scans of hip prostheses and metal embolization coils was significantly improved when SEMAR was used (p < 0.05). On scans of dental prostheses, SEMAR did not contribute significantly, especially in the area 1 cm from the edge of the implant.
Conclusion: Visual subjective evaluation showed that SEMAR improved the image quality.
Keywords: Artifact reduction; Metal implants; Noise.