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via medGadget - Dual-Energy Computed Tomography Helps Spot Gout.

In collaboration with Siemens, Dr. Savvas Nicolaou, Director of Emergency Radiology at Vancouver General Hospital and Associate Professor at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, and both his radiology and rheumatology colleagues developed a dual-energy algorithm for identifying uric acid deposits. The Canadian scientists used a SOMATOM Definition from Siemens for their trials. This system is the only CT scanner worldwide that features two X-ray tubes capable of simultaneously producing different energies. The team performed scans at different energies to determine the attenuation values of uric acid deposits. Siemens used this data to develop a new dual-energy protocol for gout that now can be used by any physician. The software algorithm used to detect gout via DECT is based on the realization that the CT values of uric acid deposits are lower, for instance, than those of calcium if scans are performed at different energies (80 and 140 kilovolts). Through color coding of the different attenuation values, it then becomes possible to recognize mono sodium urate crystals on the clinical CT image: The uric acid crystals indicating gout are, for example, color coded in red, while other bone formations and calcium are displayed in blue. The commercial version of the Siemens application is called Syngo DE Gout.

Disclosure: My radiology department has a single-source MDCT made by Siemens.

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