Overall Image Quality Score for Abdominopelvic and Chest CT Examinations and Diagnostic Confidence for Four Dose Plus Reconstruction Settings Used in CT Examinations of the Liver, Kidney, Small Bowel, Lung, and Mediastinum

Finding, Structure or Organ, Reader	Full Dose Plus FBP, Mean ± SD	Half Dose Plus FBP, Mean ± SD	Half Dose Plus SAFIRE, Mean ± SD	Half Dose Plus aNLM, Mean ± SD	p
					Full Dose Plus FBP vs Half Dose Plus FBP	Full Dose Plus FBP vs Half Dose Plus SAFIRE	Full Dose Plus FBP vs Half Dose Plus aNLM	Half Dose Plus FBP vs Half Dose Plus SAFIRE	Half Dose Plus FBP vs Half Dose Plus aNLM	Half Dose Plus SAFIRE vs Half Dose Plus aNLM
Overall image quality–abdominopelvis
Reader 1	3.36 ± 1.04	2.08 ± 0.86	3.16 ± 0.94	3.32 ± 1.03	< 0.01	0.39	0.79	< 0.01	< 0.01	0.43
Reader 2	3.32 ± 0.69	2.76 ± 0.72	2.96 ± 0.61	3.20 ± 0.76	< 0.01	0.06	0.55	0.27	0.01	0.34
Reader 3	3.96 ± 0.68	2.92 ± 0.76	3.88 ± 0.83	4.32 ± 0.85	< 0.01	0.83	0.09	< 0.01	< 0.01	< 0.01
All readers	3.55 ± 0.86	2.59 ± 0.86	3.33 ± 0.89	3.61 ± 1.01	< 0.01	0.07	0.52	< 0.01	< 0.01	< 0.01
Diagnostic confidence–liver
Reader 1	3.60 ± 1.04	1.96 ± 0.98	3.40 ± 1.08	3.44 ± 1.26	< 0.01	0.30	0.64	< 0.01	< 0.01	0.85
Reader 2	4.00 ± 0.82	3.24 ± 0.88	3.40 ± 1.08	3.60 ± 1.04	< 0.01	< 0.01	0.01	0.43	0.07	0.27
Reader 3	4.32 ± 0.69	3.24 ± 0.88	4.00 ± 0.91	4.44 ± 0.71	< 0.01	0.21	0.64	< 0.01	< 0.01	< 0.01
All readers	3.97 ± 0.90	2.81 ± 1.09	3.60 ± 1.05	3.83 ± 1.11	< 0.01	< 0.01	0.23	< 0.01	< 0.01	0.03
Diagnostic confidence–kidney
Reader 1	4.00 ± 0.87	2.40 ± 1.15	3.84 ± 0.85	3.88 ± 1.20	< 0.001	0.48	0.73	< 0.01	< 0.01	0.99
Reader 2	4.28 ± 0.68	3.48 ± 0.71	3.56 ± 0.82	3.84 ± 0.85	< 0.001	< 0.001	0.02	0.77	0.05	0.06
Reader 3	4.40 ± 0.71	3.28 ± 0.94	4.20 ± 0.87	4.44 ± 0.71	< 0.001	0.45	0.97	< 0.01	< 0.01	0.15
All readers	4.23 ± 0.76	3.05 ± 1.05	3.87 ± 0.88	4.05 ± 0.97	< 0.001	< 0.01	0.16	< 0.01	< 0.01	0.049
Diagnostic confidence–small bowel
Reader 1	3.72 ± 1.02	2.40 ± 1.08	3.56 ± 1.12	3.68 ± 1.25	< 0.001	0.51	0.84	< 0.01	< 0.01	0.66
Reader 2	3.84 ± 0.75	3.08 ± 0.93	3.20 ± 1.04	3.40 ± 0.96	< 0.001	< 0.01	< 0.01	0.79	0.16	0.31
Reader 3	4.40 ± 0.71	3.24 ± 0.93	3.92 ± 1.08	4.33 ± 0.96	< 0.001	0.09	0.56	< 0.01	< 0.01	0.06
All readers	3.99 ± 0.66	2.92 ± 0.83	3.56 ± 0.93	3.77 ± 0.95	< 0.001	< 0.01	0.044	< 0.01	< 0.01	< 0.01
Overall image quality–chest
Reader 1	4.32 ± 0.75	3.36 ± 0.70	4.32 ± 0.80	3.80 ± 0.82	< 0.01	1.00	< 0.01	< 0.01	0.02	0.01
Reader 2	3.64 ± 0.86	3.24 ± 0.83	3.56 ± 0.92	3.44 ± 0.77	0.03	0.83	0.31	0.10	0.33	0.59
Reader 3	4.52 ± 0.58	3.60 ± 0.76	4.48 ± 0.77	3.80 ± 1.00	< 0.01	1.00	< 0.01	< 0.01	0.32	< 0.01
All readers	4.16 ± 0.58	3.40 ± 0.65	4.12 ± 0.61	3.68 ± 0.69	< 0.01	0.67	< 0.01	< 0.01	0.01	< 0.01
Diagnostic confidence–lung
Reader 1	4.68 ± 0.63	4.16 ± 0.90	4.68 ± 0.63	4.56 ± 0.82	< 0.01	1.00	0.45	< 0.01	0.01	0.53
Reader 2	3.60 ± 1.00	3.40 ± 0.96	3.64 ± 1.08	3.44 ± 0.96	0.27	0.88	0.46	0.35	1.00	0.34
Reader 3	4.80 ± 0.50	4.24 ± 0.93	4.76 ± 0.52	4.40 ± 0.82	< 0.01	1.00	< 0.01	< 0.01	0.34	0.02
All readers	4.36 ± 0.61	3.93 ± 0.76	4.36 ± 0.60	4.13 ± 0.74	< 0.01	1.00	< 0.01	< 0.01	0.02	< 0.01
Diagnostic confidence–mediastinum
Reader 1	4.92 ± 0.28	4.68 ± 0.69	4.92 ± 0.28	4.80 ± 0.58	0.11	1.00	0.50	0.06	0.38	0.50
Reader 2	3.92 ± 0.86	3.64 ± 0.86	3.96 ± 1.02	3.76 ± 0.88	0.04	1.00	0.34	0.04	0.55	0.31
Reader 3	4.68 ± 0.69	3.84 ± 0.94	4.60 ± 0.71	4.24 ± 0.97	< 0.01	0.69	< 0.01	< 0.01	0.05	0.03
All readers	4.51 ± 0.50	4.05 ± 0.65	4.49 ± 0.54	4.27 ± 0.69	< 0.01	0.83	< 0.01	< 0.01	0.01	< 0.01

Note—FBP = filtered back-projection, SAFIRE = sinogram-affirmed iterative reconstruction (SAFIRE, Siemens Healthcare), aNLM = adaptive nonlocal means.