Objectives: Evaluation of coronary arteries at higher heart rates and in the presence of coronary stents remains problematic. The utilization of dual source computed tomography (DSCT) might improve the visualization of the coronary arteries under these conditions by imaging at a temporal resolution of 83 milliseconds, independent of heart rate.
Materials and methods: Vessel phantoms (diameter 2-4 mm) were attached to a robotic device to simulate cardiac motion and scanned with a DSCT system. The phantoms had either inserts leading to 50% stenosis or carried stents. Images were evaluated for motion artifacts and measurements of the normal, stenotic, and in-stent lumen at different heart rates (50-120 bpm) were performed. Quantile regression analysis was performed to investigate heart rate dependence of the measurement errors.
Results: Visualization of the stenoses and stents was possible without motion artifacts at heart rates of up to 120 bpm. Image quality was similar for the static (0 bpm) and the dynamic (50-120 bpm) scans. Errors for diameter measurements of the vessel lumen and the stenotic lumen were low (3-mm vessel: 1-2%), but considerable for in-stent diameter measurements (3-mm stent: 27-32%). A window/level setting of 1500/300 Hounsfield units was more favorable for stent evaluation. No heart rate dependence was found.
Conclusions: Depiction of coronary stents with DSCT is possible across a large range of simulated heart rates without motion artifacts and with image quality superior to that of previous generations of CT scanners.