J Korean Radiol Soc.  1994 Jan;30(1):105-111.

Comparative Study between Ultrahigh Spatial Frequency Algorithm and High Spatial Frequency Algorithm in High-Resolution CT of the Lungs

• Oh YW
• Kim JH
• Suh WH

Abstract

PURPOSE
To date, the high spatial frequency algorithm (HSFA) which reduces image smoothing and increases spatial resolution has been used for the evaluation of parenchymal lung diseases in thin-section high-resolution CT. In this study, we compared the ultrahigh spatial frequency algorithm (UHSFA) with the high spatial frequency algorithm in the assessment of thin section images of the lung parenchyma.
METHODS
AND MATERIALS: Three radiologists compared the UHSFA and HSFA on identical CT images in a line-pair resolution phantom, one lung specimen, 2 patients with normal lung and 18 patients with abnormal lung parenchyma.
RESULTS
Scanning of a line-pair resolution phantom demonstrated no difference in resolution between two techniques but it showed that outer lines of the line pairs with maximal resolution looked thicker on UHSFA than those on HSFA. Lung parenchymal detail with UHSFA was judged equal or superior to HSFA in 95% of images. Lung parenchymal sharpness was improved with UHSFA in all images. Although UHSFA resulted in an increase in visible noise, observers did not found that image noise interfered with image interpretation. The visual CT attenuation of normal lung parenchyma is minimally increased in images with HSFA. The overall visual preference of the images reconstructed on UHSFA was considered equal to or greater than that of those reconstructed on HSFA in 78% of images.
CONCLUSION
The ultrahigh spatial frequency algorithm improved the overall visual quality of the images in pulmonary parenchymal high-resolution CT.

MeSH Terms

Humans
Lung Diseases
Lung*
Noise