PREDICTION OF THE TIME TO PEAK HEPATIC ENHANCEMENT TO OPTIMIZE CONTRAST-ENHANCED SPIRAL CT

A technique for the prediction of the time to peak hepatic enhancement to optimize contrast-enhanced spiral CT has been developed. The proce dures are (a) to inject a small amount of contrast medium rapidly via the antecubital vein and measure aortic transit time (ATT) of the bolu s by single slice dynamic CT; (b) to inject contrast medium at a high rate: expecting peak hepatic enhancement to occur at ATT plus 8 second s after the end of injection; (c) to perform spiral scanning of the li ver using thin collimation and caudo-cranial table movement beginning at ATT after the end of contrast medium injection.