Urinary system imaging (dual-energy CT)

Dual-energy CT has a number of clinical applications in the assessment of the urinary system particularly in the realm of artifact reduction and material composition

Renal stone composition

Renal calculi are composed of different substances such as uric acid, calcium phosphate, calcium oxalate, cystine, and brushite. Clinical management varies by stone type. Dual-energy CT uses advanced post-processing techniques to determine the composition of the calculi accurately . For example, if a stone is predominantly made up of uric acid, patients can undergo standard urinary alkalinization rather than have an interventional procedure .

Pseudoenhancement of renal cysts

Virtual monoenergetic images ranging from 80 to 90 KeV created from dual energy data sets can be created to overcome beam hardening and partial volume of indeterminate renal masses. This can be performed retrospectively and act as a useful tool when assessing for pseudoenhancement of renal cysts .