Fully automated measurement of noise, signal-to-noise ratio, and contrast-to-noise ratio on chest CT images: feasibility and efficiency

BACKGROUND: Rapid and accurate measurement of computed tomography (CT) image noise, signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), and contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) is a clinical challenge. PURPOSE: To explore the feasibility of intelligent measurement of chest CT image noise, SNR, and CNR. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A total of 300 chest CT scans were included in the study, which was divided into research dataset, internal test dataset, and external test dataset. Based on the research dataset, automatically segment and measure the average CT values and standard deviation (SD) of CT values for background air and lung field under different thresholds to obtain noise, SNR, and CNR results. Using the results of manual measurements as the reference standard, we determine the optimal threshold with the highest consistency. Using internal and external test datasets, validate the consistency of automated measurements of noise, SNR, and CNR at the optimal CT threshold with reference standards. RESULTS: With background air set at -900 HU and lung field at -800 HU as thresholds, the automated measurements of noise, SNR, and CNR demonstrate the highest consistency with the reference standards. At the optimal threshold, the noise, SNR, and CNR measured automatically on both the internal (intraclass correlation coefficient [ICC] = 0.85-0.96) and external (ICC = 0.75-0.85) test datasets exhibit high consistency with their respective reference standards. CONCLUSION: The method we explored can intelligently measure the noise, SNR, and CNR of chest CT images, exhibits high consistency with radiologists, and offers a novel tool for image quality evaluation and analysis.