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Dual‐energy CT (DECT) systems provide valuable material‐specific information by simultaneously acquiring two spectral measurements, resulting in superior image quality and contrast‐to‐noise ratio (CNR) while reducing radiation exposure and contrast agent usage. The selection of DECT scan parameters, including x‐ray tube settings and fluence, is critical for the stability of the reconstruction process and hence the overall image quality.

The goal of this study is to propose a systematic theoretical method for determining the optimal DECT parameters for minimal noise and maximum CNR in virtual monochromatic images (VMIs) for fixed subject size and total radiation dose.

The noise propagation in the process of projection based material estimation from DECT measurements is analyzed. The main components of the study are the mean pixel variances for the sinogram and …