Often, the actual noise measured on
the image by drawing a region of interest
will differ from the noise index selected
for scanning. This is due to the fact that
noise index settings only adjust the tube
current, whereas the standard deviation
is also affected by other parameters, including
the reconstruction algorithm,
the reconstructed section thickness (if
different from the prospective thickness),
the use of image space filters, variations
in patient anatomy and patient motion,
and the presence of beam-hardening artifacts.
Substantial differences between
the selected noise index and the standard
deviation can also occur in very large
patients owing to insufficient signal
strength at the detector and superimposition
of electronic noise, which can be
minimized by using a higher peak voltage.
Likewise, improper centering of patients
in the scan field of view can result
in noisier images owing to inappropriate
beam attenuation by the bow-tie
filter (5). As bow-tie filter attenuation