Dual-Energy Based Spectral Electronic Cleansing in Non-Cathartic Computed Tomography Colonography: An Emerging Novel Technique

Computed tomography colonography (CTC) with reduced or without bowel catharsis and with fecal tagging has emerged to improve CTC tolerability in patients and their subsequent compliance with colorectal cancer screening. With fecal tagging, electronic cleansing is performed by postprocessing software that removes remnants of contrast material. However, because the technique is threshold based, artifacts that lower the image quality and accuracy of the examination may be noted. Spectral electronic cleansing, based on dual-energy CT and on material-specific cleansing, decreases the number of artifacts and improves image quality. In this review we describe spectral cleansing with reduced catharsis CTC and illustrate its potential benefits. Semin Ultrasound CT MRI 31:309-314 (C) 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.