Comparison of Rhenium and Iodine as Contrast Agents in X-Ray Imaging

Figure 4

Evaluation of the contrast-to-noise ratio in micro-computed tomography. (a) The graph shows the relationship between the CNR and the concentration of the radiopaque element in the XCA. The scans were carried out at 50 kVp (10 mAs), 80 kVp (7.5 mAs), and 120 kVp (2.5 mAs) with a 0.6 mm thick copper filter, that is, exposures X01, X02, and X03, respectively (see Table 1). (b) Axial image acquired at 50 kVp showing the following XCA: I-XCA ((A) 200 mM, (B) 100 mM, and (C) 50 mM), Re-XCA ((D) 200 mM, (E) 100 mM, and (F) 50 mM), and controls ((G) water and (H) air). Attenuation: (A) 1,746 HU, (B) 863 HU, (C) 403 HU, (D) 1,297 HU, (E) 622 HU, (F) 285 HU, (G) −9.5, and (H) −994 HU. The scan corresponds to X01 (see Table 1). The XCA were imaged by µCT.

(a)

(b)