Photon-Counting-Detector CT in Practice: Clinical Benefits, Quality Assurance, Imaging Protocols, Workflow, and System Optimization
Description
Photon-counting detector CT (PCD-CT) is one of the most significant advances in CT over the past decade. As PCD-CT enters routine practice, evidence of benefit across cardiothoracic, neuro, and oncologic applications continues to grow. Realizing its full value requires close collaboration among radiologists, medical physicists, and technologists—deep technical understanding, careful protocol design, and disciplined workflow governance. This practical, vendor-agnostic course spans clinical benefits, quality assurance, protocol design, workflow, and system optimization. We will demonstrate clinical benefits with real-world cases; present actionable tips and common pitfalls; review QA/physics testing (from acceptance through constancy and spectral checks); and outline protocol design and translation from EID-CT to PCD-CT (AEC strategies, scanning modes, reconstruction types, slice thickness, and matrix size). We will address operational impacts—larger datasets, reconstruction management, data transfer, and post-processing—plus longitudinal comparability, standardization across sites, and optimization for reliability and reproducibility. Upon completion, attendees will be equipped with the knowledge and practical steps to implement best practices and maximize clinical impact.