Computed tomography (CT) technology has rapidly evolved since its introduction in the 1970s. It is a highly important diagnostic tool for clinicians as demonstrated by the significant increase in utilization over several decades. However, much of the effort to develop and advance CT applications has been focused on improving visual sensitivity and reducing radiation dose. In comparison to these areas, improvements in quantitative CT have lagged behind. While this could be a consequence of the technological limitations of conventional CT, advanced dual‐energy CT (DECT) and photon‐counting detector CT (PCD‐CT) offer new opportunities for quantitation. Routine use of DECT is becoming more widely available and PCD‐CT is rapidly developing. This review covers efforts to address an unmet need for improved quantitative imaging to better characterize disease, identify biomarkers, and evaluate therapeutic response, with an emphasis on multi‐energy CT applications. The review will primarily discuss applications that have utilized quantitative metrics using both conventional and DECT, such as bone mineral density measurement, evaluation of renal lesions, and diagnosis of fatty liver disease. Other topics that will be discussed include efforts to improve quantitative CT volumetry and radiomics. Finally, we will address the use of quantitative CT to enhance image‐guided techniques for surgery, radiotherapy and interventions and provide unique opportunities for development of new contrast agents.

中文翻译：

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多能量计算机断层扫描和材料量化：当前的障碍和进步的机会。


计算机断层扫描 (CT) 技术自 20 世纪 70 年代推出以来迅速发展。它对于临床医生来说是一种非常重要的诊断工具，几十年来其利用率的显着增加就证明了这一点。然而，开发和推进 CT 应用的大部分努力都集中在提高视觉灵敏度和减少辐射剂量上。与这些领域相比，定量CT的进步已经滞后。虽然这可能是传统 CT 技术限制的结果，但先进的双能 CT (DECT) 和光子计数探测器 CT (PCD-CT) 为定量提供了新的机会。 DECT 的常规使用变得越来越广泛，PCD-CT 正在迅速发展。本综述涵盖了为解决改进定量成像的未满足需求所做的努力，以更好地表征疾病、识别生物标志物和评估治疗反应，重点是多能量 CT 应用。该综述将主要讨论使用传统和 DECT 进行定量测量的应用，例如骨矿物质密度测量、肾脏病变评估和脂肪肝疾病诊断。将讨论的其他主题包括改进定量 CT 容积和放射组学的努力。最后，我们将讨论使用定量 CT 来增强手术、放射治疗和干预的图像引导技术，并为开发新型造影剂提供独特的机会。