To analyze the diagnostic value of low-dose CT in gouty arthritis.

A total of 60 patients with acute gout attacks who visited Yunan County Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine in Yunfu City from January to December 2025 were enrolled in this study. Using a random number table, they were assigned to Group A and Group B, with 30 patients in each group. Group A underwent low-dose CT, while Group B underwent conventional CT. Joint aspiration fluid examined under polarized light microscopy served as the gold standard. The diagnostic performance of both groups in identifying gouty arthritis was compared, and radiation doses were calculated for each group.

There were no significant differences in diagnostic performance parameters between the two groups (P>0.05). The effective dose of Group A was (0.27±0.08) mSv, the dose-length product was (46.23±8.54) mGy·cm, and the volumetric CT dose index was (4.73±0.87) mGy, all of which were significantly lower than those of Group B [(0.96±0.32) mSv, (300.54±51.37) mGy·cm, (23.19±3.85) mGy] (all P<0.05).

There was no significant difference in diagnostic performance between low-dose CT and conventional CT for gouty arthritis; however, low-dose CT reduces radiation dose and lowers the risk of radiation exposure for patients.

To investigate the clinical application value of 64 slice spiral CT head and neck CT angiography (CTA) in the diagnosis of head and neck vascular lesions.

80 patients with suspected head and neck vascular disease in our hospital from June 2024 to December 2025 were selected as the research object. All patients underwent 64 slice spiral CT head and neck CTA examination and digital subtraction angiography (DSA) examination. The detection performance, diagnostic efficacy indicators, examination-related indicators, and incidence of adverse reactions of 64-slice spiral CT head and neck CTA technology were evaluated for various types of head and neck vascular lesions.

There was no statistically significant difference in the detection performance of various types of head and neck vascular lesions between the two examination methods (P>0.05). Using surgical pathology results or clinical comprehensive diagnosis as the gold standard, the sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy of 64-slice spiral CT head and neck CTA technology were 93.94%, 100.00%, and 95.00%, respectively, compared with those of DSA (96.97%, 100.00%, and 97.50%), there was no statistically significant difference (P>0.05). The examination time [(12.35±3.18) min], radiation dose [(320.45±50.63) mGy·cm] and contrast agent dosage [(35.76±4.32) mL] of 64 slice spiral CT head and neck CTA were lower than those of DSA [(35.67±5.42) min, (650.32±80.45) mGy·cm, (58.63±6.27) mL], and the difference was statistically significant (P<0.05). The incidence of adverse reactions of 64 slice spiral CT head and neck CTA was 2.50%, which was lower than 11.25% of DSA, and the difference was statistically significant (P<0.05).

The application of head and neck CTA technology in the diagnosis of head and neck vascular disease can improve the diagnostic accuracy and diagnostic efficiency through the advantages of 64 slice spiral CT, and has the advantages of rapid examination, low radiation dose, low dosage of contrast agent, high safety and so on, which can be used as one of the preferred schemes for the clinical diagnosis of head and neck vascular disease.

To quantitatively compare the left-right asymmetry of the sacroiliac joints between postpartum women with low back pain and healthy postpartum women using multi-slice spiral CT (MSCT), and to investigate its imaging features and diagnostic value for postpartum sacroiliac joint subluxation.

35 postpartum women with low back pain treated in our hospital between January 2023 and December 2024 were selected as the study group (postpartum low back pain group), while 35 healthy postpartum women served as the control group (healthy postpartum group). 16-slice spiral CT was used to scan the sacroiliac joints, and multiplanar reconstruction was employed to for image processing. A total of 18 measurement points were selected in the anterior, middle, and posterior regions from S1 to S3 to calculate the degree of left-right asymmetry. Differences in asymmetry between the two groups at each measurement point were compared, and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was used to identify diagnostic cutoff values.

There was no significant difference in age, postpartum duration, or other baseline characteristics between the two groups. Significant left-right asymmetry was observed at 14 measurement points (P<0.05). The degree of asymmetry at all significant locations was greater in the postpartum low back pain group than in the control group, with the most pronounced difference observed in the posterior region of S2-2 measurement point [(0.860±0.608) mm vs. (0.491±0.205) mm, P=0.001 7)]. ROC curve analysis showed that the asymmetry in the anterior region of S1-1 level had the best diagnostic performance (AUC=0.738), with a cutoff value of 0.3 mm.

Postpartum women with low back pain exhibit significant left-right asymmetry in the sacroiliac joints, with increased asymmetry at multiple anatomical locations. A left-right asymmetry ≥0.3 mm in the anterior region of S1-1 level can serve as a key reference standard for evaluating postpartum sacroiliac joint subluxation.

To investigate the clinical diagnostic value and safety of endoscopic ultrasound-guided fine-needle aspiration/biopsy (EUS-FNA/B) in upper gastrointestinal and extramural lesions.

A retrospective analysis was performed on 50 patients who underwent EUS-FNA/B from January 2024 to December 2025. The final comprehensive diagnosis was based on surgical pathology when available, or on follow-up imaging and treatment response in nonsurgical cases. Diagnostic agreement, sensitivity, specificity, predictive values, accuracy, AUC and complications were analyzed.

The final diagnosis included 18 benign and 32 malignant lesions. EUS-FNA/B identified 31 malignant and 19 benign lesions, with 30 true positives, 17 true negatives, 2 false negatives and 1 false positive. The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value and accuracy were 93.75%, 94.44%, 96.77%, 89.47% and 94.00%, respectively. The AUC was 0.94. No serious complications occurred.

EUS-FNA/B has high diagnostic accuracy and favorable safety for upper gastrointestinal and extramural lesions, and can provide reliable evidence for clinical decision-making.

To address the technical challenges of traditional spectral CT reconstruction methods, including reliance on discrete voxel grids, high computational complexity, degraded reconstruction quality, and insufficient material decomposition accuracy under low-dose and under-sampling conditions.

A spectral CT reconstruction and material decomposition method based on implicit neural representation (INR) is proposed. This method adopts multi-resolution hash encoding to map spatial coordinates into high-dimensional features, decodes base material densities via a lightweight multi-layer perceptron (MLP), and converts the reconstruction process into a nonlinear optimization problem minimizing projection consistency loss.

Performance verification was conducted based on simulation data from fast kV switching and actual data from a dual-layer flat-panel detector. Compared with the traditional two-step method combining projection-domain material decomposition and filtered back projection (FBP), the proposed method effectively improves the image signal-to-noise ratio and material decomposition accuracy, demonstrating stronger robustness under sparse-view conditions.

The present invention can provide a new algorithmic path and theoretical basis for the low-dose clinical application of next-generation spectral CT technology.

This study aimed to assess radiation dose reduction efficacy and image quality impact of automatic tube current modulation (ATCM) combined with deep-learning reconstruction algorithm “ClearInfinity” in low-dose pediatric non-contrast head CT scans.

This study retrospectively analyzed imaging data from 160 pediatric patients who underwent non-contrast head CT scans. The patients were divided into two groups according to the scanning protocol: group A (n=80) used the low-dose reconstruction protocol based on the ATCM technology combined with the ClearInfinity algorithm; Group B (n=80) adopted the conventional-dose reconstruction protocol using fixed parameters combined with iterative reconstruction. The patients were divided into four age groups, with 20 cases in each group. Radiation dose was evaluated using metrics such as volume CT dose index (CTDI_vol), dose-length product (DLP), and effective dose (ED) to compare the radiation exposure levels between the two groups. Image quality assessment included both objective and subjective evaluations. For the objective evaluation, regions of interest (ROIs) with an area of approximately 20 mm² were selected at four anatomical levels to calculate the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) for each region. Subjective evaluation was performed by two experienced physicians using a blinded method to rate the overall image quality, the degree of anatomical detail display, and the control of posterior cranial fossa artifacts.. Statistical analysis was conducted using SPSS software.

The result shows that there was no statistically significant difference in the baseline data between the two groups. Radiation dose metrics, including CTDI_vol, DLP, and ED, as well as objective image evaluation indicators such as SNR and CNR in different regions, all showed statistically significant differences (P<0.05). The radiation doses in Group A were all significantly lower than those in Group B. The subjective evaluation results indicated that the overall image quality of group A was improved compared to group B (P<0.001), the posterior cranial fossa artifacts were optimized (P<0.001), and the consistency of the evaluations by the two physicians was excellent (ICC=0.891~0.923, P<0.001).

The ATCM technology combined with the ClearInfinity algorithm can significantly reduce the radiation dose of pediatric head CT scans. Although the objective evaluation indicates a slight decline in image quality for older age groups, the subjective evaluation shows an improvement in image quality, achieving a coordinated optimization of dose and image quality, and is expected to provide a new paradigm for low-dose CT scans of the pediatric head.

To transfer and verify the reference interval for serum lithium determination by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS), and to evaluate the consistency of this method with the ion-selective electrode (ISE).

A total of 450 serum samples from patients treated with lithium carbonate were collected and detected in parallel by ICP-MS and ISE methods. Among them, 150 samples were used for reference interval transfer of ICP-MS, 100 samples for reference interval verification, and 200 samples for evaluating the consistency between ICP-MS and ISE methods in serum lithium detection.

Reference interval transfer showed a high correlation between ICP-MS and ISE methods for serum lithium detection (r=0.980, P<0.01), with the regression equation Ŷ_ICP-MS=0.060+0.964X_ISE and R²=0.976. The ratio of the absolute value of the intercept to the width of the ISE reference interval was 6%, and the transferred reference interval of ICP-MS was 0.25~1.22 mmol/L. The verification pass rate was 98%. Consistency analysis indicated that the detection values of ICP-MS were generally lower than those of ISE (P<0.05); in the low concentration group, the detection values of ICP-MS were significantly higher (P<0.05), while in the therapeutic concentration Ⅱ group and high concentration group, the detection values of ICP-MS were significantly lower (P<0.05). The two methods showed an overall positive correlation (r=0.961, P<0.01) with R²=0.924, and the proportion of points outside the 95% limits of agreement (LoA) was 2.5%. The linear bias was 0.000 4±0.190 0, and the absolute bias met the criterion (≤±0.3 mmol/L) for total allowable error (TEa). In subgroup analysis, the correlation coefficients of each group ranged from 0.737 to 0.870, R² from 0.543 to 0.927, and the proportion of points outside the 95% LoA ranged from 2.9% to 8.3%. The linear bias of each group ranged from -0.000 4±0.069 0 to 0.001 0±0.099 0, and the absolute bias in all groups met the TEa requirement.

The ICP-MS method is reliable for serum lithium detection and shows good consistency with the ISE method, which can serve as an effective alternative for clinical serum lithium determination.