Application progress of dual-energy CT material decomposition images in pulmonary nodules

WEI Wenkai; CUI Lei

doi:10.12122/j.issn.1674-4500.2025.01.20

Abstract：Lung cancer,being one of the cancers with the highest global incidence and the main reason for cancer deaths,usually exhibits as pulmonary nodules in the early stage.CT represents a crucial imaging examination approach for the assessment of pulmonary nodules.With the advancement of technology,dual-energy CT is widely used in clinical practice.By acquiring images at two different energy spectra,dual-energy CT enables material decomposition,allowing generation of material-and energy-specific images.Existing research has demonstrated that dual-energy CT can be employed not merely for differentiating between benign and malignant pulmonary nodules,predicting pathological types of lung cancer,assessing the degree of tumor differentiation as well as the gene expression,but also for assessing therapy response and prognosis of lung cancer.This article reviews the clinical applications of dual-energy CT material decomposition images in distinguishing between benign and malignant pulmonary nodules,predicting the pathological types of lung cancer,the degree of tumor differentiation,the gene expression of lung cancer,evaluating therapy response and prognosis of lung cancer.It aims to systematically sort out the clinical application progress of dual-energy CT material decomposition images in pulmonary nodules,provide a more scientific and accurate basis for clinical decision-making,and promote the further development of precision medicine for lung cancer.