{"doi":"10.3174/ajnr.a8572","title":"Ultra-High-Resolution Photon-Counting-Detector CT with a Dedicated Denoising Convolutional Neural Network for Enhanced Temporal Bone Imaging","abstract":"<h3>ABSTRACT</h3> <h3>BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE:</h3> Ultra-high-resolution (UHR) photon-counting-detector (PCD) CT improves image resolution but increases noise, necessitating use of smoother reconstruction kernels that reduce resolution below the system’s 0.110 mm maximum spatial resolution. To address this, a denoising convolutional neural network (CNN) was developed to reduce noise in images reconstructed with the available sharpest reconstruction kernel while preserving resolution for enhanced temporal bone visualization. <h3>MATERIALS AND METHODS:</h3> With IRB approval, CNN was trained on 6 clinical temporal bone patient cases (1,885 images) and tested on 20 independent cases using a dual-source PCD-CT (NAEOTOM Alpha, Siemens). Images were reconstructed using iterative reconstruction at strength 3 (QIR3) with both clinical routine (Hr84) and the sharpest available head kernel (Hr96). The CNN was applied to images reconstructed with Hr96 and QIR1. Three image series (Hr84-QIR3, Hr96-QIR3, and Hr96-CNN) for each case were randomized for review by two neuroradiologists, assessing overall quality and delineation of the modiolus, stapes footplate, and incudomallear joint. <h3>RESULTS:</h3> CNN reduced noise by 80% compared to Hr96-QIR3 and 50% relative to Hr84-QIR3, while maintaining high resolution. When compared to the conventional method at the same kernel (Hr96-QIR3), Hr96-CNN significantly decreased image noise (from 204.63 HU to 47.35 HU) and improved SSIM (from 0.72 to 0.99). Hr96-CNN images ranked higher than Hr84-QIR3 and Hr96-QIR3 in overall quality (p&lt;0.001). Readers preferred Hr96-CNN for all three structures. <h3>CONCLUSIONS:</h3> The proposed CNN significantly reduced image noise in UHR PCD-CT, enabling the use of sharpest kernel. This combination greatly enhanced diagnostic image quality and anatomical visualization. <b>ABBREVIATIONS:</b> PCD = Photon-counting-detector; UHR = Ultra-high-resolution; IR = Iterative reconstruction; CNN = Convolutional neural network; SSIM: Structural similarity index.","journal":"American Journal of Neuroradiology","year":2024,"id":443634,"datarank":0.0,"base_score":0.0,"endowment":0.0,"self_citation_contribution":0.0,"citation_network_contribution":0.0,"self_endowment_contribution":0.0,"citer_contribution":0.0,"corpus_percentile":null,"corpus_rank":null,"citation_count":8,"citer_count":0,"citers_with_citation_signal":0,"citers_with_endowment":0,"datacite_reuse_total":0,"is_dataset":false,"is_dataset_confidence":0.9637,"is_data_producer":false,"deposit_databanks":null,"is_oa":true,"file_count":0,"downloads":0,"has_version_chain":false,"published_date":"2024-01-01","fair_score":null,"fair_percentile":null,"algorithm_id":"datarank_citation_only_1hop_v6","ranking_scope":"data_only","authors":[{"id":736998,"name":"John C. Benson","orcid":"0000-0002-4038-5422","position":1,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":1258247,"name":"John I. Lane","orcid":"0000-0001-5874-633X","position":2,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":1140780,"name":"Michael R. Bruesewitz","orcid":"0000-0002-7291-7913","position":3,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":1141110,"name":"Joseph R. Swicklik","orcid":null,"position":4,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":908277,"name":"Jamison E. Thorne","orcid":"0000-0003-3993-6423","position":5,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":1033639,"name":"Emily K. Koons","orcid":"0000-0001-6646-595X","position":6,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":859487,"name":"Matthew L. Carlson","orcid":"0000-0002-4925-8593","position":7,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":237065,"name":"Cynthia H. McCollough","orcid":"0000-0002-5346-332X","position":8,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":237063,"name":"Shuai Leng","orcid":"0000-0002-6453-9481","position":9,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":577751,"name":"Shaojie Chang","orcid":"0000-0003-0550-9650","position":0,"is_corresponding":true}],"reference_count":21,"raw_metadata":null,"created_at":"2026-07-19T02:01:29.001453Z","pmid":"39528299","pmcid":null,"fwci":null,"citation_percentile":null,"influential_citations":0,"oa_status":null,"license":null,"views":0,"total_file_size_bytes":0,"version_count":0,"fair_f":null,"fair_a":null,"fair_i":null,"fair_r":null,"fair_zscore":null,"fair_rationale":null,"fair_model":null,"fair_agent_version":null,"fair_fulltext_source":null,"fair_has_llm":null,"fair_computed_at":null,"clinical_trials":[],"software_tools":[],"db_accessions":[],"linked_datasets":[],"topics":[]}