Towards Diagnostic Quality Flat-Panel Detector CT Imaging Using Diffusion Models
This work addresses the need for better patient management in mechanical thrombectomy procedures by enabling diagnostic-quality imaging directly in the intervention room, potentially saving time and reducing patient movement, though it is incremental as it applies an existing diffusion model to a specific medical imaging bottleneck.
The study tackled the problem of low image quality in flat-panel detector CT (FDCT) scans due to artifacts, which limits their diagnostic use compared to multi-detector CT (MDCT). By applying a denoising diffusion probabilistic model (DDPM), they improved FDCT image quality to be comparable to MDCT, eliminating most artifacts and enhancing anatomical visibility without reducing bleeding detection, as evaluated by clinicians.
Patients undergoing a mechanical thrombectomy procedure usually have a multi-detector CT (MDCT) scan before and after the intervention. The image quality of the flat panel detector CT (FDCT) present in the intervention room is generally much lower than that of a MDCT due to significant artifacts. However, using only FDCT images could improve patient management as the patient would not need to be moved to the MDCT room. Several studies have evaluated the potential use of FDCT imaging alone and the time that could be saved by acquiring the images before and/or after the intervention only with the FDCT. This study proposes using a denoising diffusion probabilistic model (DDPM) to improve the image quality of FDCT scans, making them comparable to MDCT scans. Clinicans evaluated FDCT, MDCT, and our model's predictions for diagnostic purposes using a questionnaire. The DDPM eliminated most artifacts and improved anatomical visibility without reducing bleeding detection, provided that the input FDCT image quality is not too low. Our code can be found on github.