Phantom studies for the quantitation of calcium with a fast CT scanner

Studies on patients and normal volunteers with ultrafast CT suggested that small calcium deposits can be detected in coronary vessels. The authors sought to determine the minimum size and concentration of calcium that can be detected. Calcium deposit was simulated with chalk dust in 1% agar blocks placed on the heart in a sheep cadaver. The CT numbers in the lower range of those observed in patients matched blocks with volumes of 12-30 mm3 mg/mL of chalk. This paper discusses how these phantom studies might provide useful information about the density and size of a calcification observed in a patient