Photon-Counting Computed Tomography of Degradable Bone Cement Loaded With Gadolinium Nanoparticles

The use of GdNPs led to a higher cement-vertebra CNR for both EID-CT and PCCT. Overall, PCCT demonstrated higher CNRs than EID-CT. Material decomposition successfully quantified the concentration of gadolinium in vials and allowed for improved visual differentiation of the GdNP-loaded bone cement from the calcium-based vertebral bodies. Thus, the incorporation of radiopaque GdNPs and imaging with PCCT improved visualization of the bone cement. These methods could be used to improve monitoring of implanted bone cements. In addition, PCCT material decomposition enabled accurate quantification of gadolinium in solution.