Ces radiol. 2025, 79(4):237-244 | DOI: 10.55095/CesRadiol2025/036

Imaging of injured joints with ultra-high resolution using photon-counting CTOriginal article

Jiří Ferda¹, Pavel Nedbal¹, Tomáš Vendiš^{1, 2}, Jan Baxa¹, Bernhard Schmidt²

¹ Klinika zobrazovacích metod LF UK a FN, Plzeň

² Computertomographie Forschung Abteilung, Siemens Healthineers, Forchheim, Deutschland Přijato: 1. 10. 2025

Aim: To evaluate the possibilities of imaging joint injuries using ultra-high-resolution photon-counting CT (PCCT).

Methods: An analysis was performed of acute examinations of the elbow, wrist, and hand, as well as the knee, ankle, and foot, performed due to injury over an eight-week period using PCCT (Naeotom Alpha.Peak, Siemens Healthineers, with 0.2 mm data acquisition and using a 2 × 2 detector element cluster for spectral tissue imaging. The evaluation focused on the spectrum of joints imaged and the most common findings.

Results: Over an eight-week period, we performed a total of 98 examinations of the joints of the appendicular skeleton. These were examinations of acute injuries, where the indications were intra-articular fractures (73 examinations), unclear findings on plain images (17 examinations), injuries in the field of a previously operated joint with implantation of osteosynthetic material (7 examinations). The sample included 56 men and 42 women, with an average age of 41.81 years, ranging from 11 to 92 years. 



Conclusion: Photon-counting computed tomography technology significantly improves the quality of diagnostics in acute joint imaging indications. The main advantages are extremely high spatial resolution and the possibility of expanding the methods of evaluation to include the assessment of soft tissues with higher accuracy and resolution.

Keywords: joint injuries, photon-counting CT, high resolution.

Accepted: November 11, 2025; Published: January 1, 2026  Show citation