INTEGRATION OF TAGUCHI ANALYSIS WITH PHANTOM AND INNOVATIVE GAUGES: OPTIMIZATION OF THE CT SCAN PROTOCOL FOR PERIPHERAL ARTERIAL OCCLUSIVE DISEASE (PAOD) SYNDROME

• Published in: Journal of mechanics in medicine and biology Vol. 20; no. 9; p. 2040005
• Main Authors: LEE, TSUNG-MIN, LIN, CHIEN-CHUNG, PENG, BING-RU, PAN, LUNG-FA, PAN, LUNG-KWANG
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Singapore World Scientific Publishing Company 01.11.2020; World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte., Ltd
• Subjects: Computed tomography; Field of view; Gauges; Medical imaging; Optimization; Orthogonal arrays; Protocol; Radiology; Rotation; Spatial resolution; Thickness; line group gauge; ANOVA; CT scan; peripheral arterial occlusive disease (PAOD); Taguchi orthogonal array
• ISSN: 0219-5194; 1793-6810
• DOI: 10.1142/S0219519420400059

The CT scan protocol optimization for peripheral arterial occlusive disease (PAOD) syndrome was performed by organizing seven CT factors [kVp, mAs, pitch, field of view (FOV) (mm), time of rotation (s), slice thickness (mm), and matrix size] into Taguchi unique L 1 8 orthogonal array. The minimum detectable difference (MDD) in the optimizing process was quantified by adopting a customized line group gauge. Besides, three qualified experts in radiology examined by the double-blind criterion the gauge scanned images and ranked them, yielding the optimal setting of CT scan protocols. The latter setting for PAOD included the kVp of 100, mAs of 240, pitch of 0.513, FOV of 320 mm, rotation time of 0.75 s, slice thickness of 4.0, and matrix size of 7 6 8 × 7 6 8 . The ANOVA and revised Student’s t -test verified the smallest MDD as 1.43 mm at a 0.45-mm gauge depth. The ranking process, which makes it possible to magnify and emphasize the imaging correlation among groups, was found to be preferable to grading in the optimization process. The comparative analysis of various MDDs obtained from different medical facilities and literary sources was performed, which revealed that the cardiac X-ray provided the finest spatial resolution according to the quantified MDD. Meanwhile, the CT scan protocol for PAOD adopted in this study had finer MDD than that for the abdomen due to comparatively low kVp or/and mAs.