DnCNN-Based Denoising Model for Low-Dose Myocardial CT Perfusion Imaging
Bibliographic record
Abstract
Unlike high-dose scans, low-dose cardiac CT perfusion imaging reduces patient radiation exposure and thereby the risk of potential health effects. However, it introduces significant image noise, degrading diagnostic quality and limiting clinical assessment. Denoising is thus a critical preprocessing step to enhance image quality without compromising anatomical or perfusion details. Traditionally used reconstruction-domain methods, such as Iterative Reconstruction and Compressed Sensing, are often limited by algorithmic complexity, dependence on raw sinogram data, and restricted adaptability. Conversely, image-domain methods offer more adaptable denoising options. Recently, learning-based approaches have further expanded this flexibility and demonstrated state-of-the-art performance across various denoising tasks. In this work, we present a deep learning-based denoising method specifically tuned for low-dose cardiac CT perfusion imaging. Our model is trained to reduce noise while preserving structural integrity and temporal contrast dynamics, which are critical for downstream analysis. Unlike many existing methods, our approach is optimized for perfusion data, where temporal consistency is essential. Residual cardiac motion remains a separate challenge, which we aim to address in our future work. Experimental results show significant improvements in quantitative image quality, using both reference-based and no-reference metrics, such as MSE/PSNR/SSIM and NIQE/FID/KID, as well as improved accuracy of perfusion measurements.
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How this classification was reachedexpand
Full frame machine prediction
Teacher imitationNot calibrated prevalence, not ground truth. Human validation pending. The Gemma side is a direct model label for every work in the frame, read from the title-only record. The Codex side is a classifier learned from the 10,348 direct Codex labels and calibrated to design-weighted sample rates; fields without enough sample support carry no Codex call. Candidate is the union of the two sides; consensus is their intersection. These outputs are machine_predicted_unvalidated and are not human labels.
Distilled classifier scores by category (both heads)
| Category | Codex | Gemma |
|---|---|---|
| Metaresearch | 0.001 | 0.001 |
| Meta-epidemiology (narrow) | 0.001 | 0.000 |
| Meta-epidemiology (broad) | 0.001 | 0.001 |
| Bibliometrics | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Science and technology studies | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Scholarly communication | 0.001 | 0.001 |
| Open science | 0.001 | 0.001 |
| Research integrity | 0.001 | 0.002 |
| Insufficient payload (model declined to judge) | 0.002 | 0.001 |
Machine scores (provisional)
The two teacher heads of the student model, read on this work. A score orders the frame for review; it never asserts a category, and the validation status ships verbatim with every row.
Baseline scores from an immature model (maturity gate not passed, 7 training rounds). Scores rank; they never assert a category.
score_only:v0-immature-baseline · verbatim from the scoring run: score_only means the number may rank works, and no category label ships from itClassification
machine, unvalidatedMachine predicted; a candidate call from one source (direct Gemma or distilled Codex), not a consensus.
How this classification was reached, model by model and score by score, is at the end of the page under "How this classification was reached".