Effect of SnapShot Freeze 2 on Reducing Pulsation Artifacts in Coronary Artery Imaging of Patients With High Heart Rates.

SSF2 yielded significantly higher subjective image-quality scores than SSF and no-SSF in both diastolic and systolic phases.

• Study included 50 patients with heart rates above 80 bpm who underwent CCTA between January and June 2023.
• Both end-diastolic (70-80% phase) and end-systolic (40-50% phase) images were evaluated.
• All comparisons reached statistical significance with P<0.001.
• Three reconstruction algorithms were compared: SSF2, SSF, and no motion correction (no-SSF).

The artifact index was significantly lower in SSF2 images compared to SSF and no-SSF in both cardiac phases.

• For diastolic phase images, the artifact index comparison yielded F=25.645, P<0.05.
• For systolic phase images, the artifact index comparison yielded F=6.959, P<0.05.
• Objective image quality was assessed across coronary artery segments and artifact indices.

SSF2 images contained significantly more analyzable coronary artery segments as detected by an AI system compared to SSF and no-SSF reconstructions.

• An AI-enabled assessment was performed to evaluate the number of coronary artery segments detected.
• All pairwise comparisons between SSF2 and the other two reconstruction methods reached P<0.05.
• This finding indicated improved image interpretability after SSF2 reconstruction.
• The AI evaluation served as a third assessment method alongside subjective and objective evaluations.

The study evaluated CCTA image quality using three complementary assessment approaches across three motion-correction algorithms.

• Subjective, objective, and AI-enabled assessments were all performed.
• Images were reconstructed with SSF2, SSF, and without motion correction (no-SSF).
• The study population consisted of 50 patients with heart rates above 80 bpm.
• Data were collected from a single center's Department of Radiology over a 6-month period (January to June 2023).
• The authors noted that further multicenter studies are warranted to confirm clinical impact.