Overview of CT Selection for VirtuOst BCT. VirtuOst BCT uses CT (CAT) scans that capture the hip or lower spine. VirtuOst BCT cannot be performed on X-Ray, DXA, MRI, ultrasound, or other non-CT images.
Scan Coverage. Most pelvic, abdomen, spine, chest, low-dose lung, and whole-body PET/CT scans can be analyzed if they adequately cover one proximal femur (lesser trochanter and above) or one vertebral body from T12–L3. See tables below for details.
Spine BCT. At the spine, the reconstruction slice thickness cannot exceed 3 mm and the CT scan cannot be enhanced with intravenous (IV) contrast.
Hip BCT. At the hip, the slice thickness cannot exceed 5 mm and there is no restriction on IV contrast.
| Parameter | Requirement |
|---|---|
| Tube Voltage | 100–140 kVp |
| Display Field of View (DFOV) | The bone of interest must not be cut off in the FOV |
| Reconstruction Kernel | Soft to standard reconstruction kernel
(“sharp” or “bone” kernels are not suitable for BCT due to possible distortion of the attenuation data) |
| Hip-Specific | |
| Coverage | Just above the top of the femoral head to below the femoral neck, just below the lesser trochanter being preferable |
| IV Contrast | With or without |
| Slice Thickness | ≤ 5 mm |
| Spine-Specific | |
| Coverage | Complete coverage of one vertebral body from T12–L3 |
| IV Contrast | Without (BCT is not performed at the spine for scans with IV contrast) |
| Slice Thickness | ≤ 3 mm |
| Scan Description‡ | CPT Code | Hip BCT | Spine BCT* |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chest w/o | 71250 | X† | |
| Chest with & w/o | 71270 | X† | |
| Low-dose Lung Cancer Screen | 71271 | X† | |
| Thoracic w/o | 72128 | X | |
| Thoracic with & w/o | 72130 | X | |
| Lumbar w/o | 72131 | X | |
| Lumbar with & w/o | 72133 | X | |
| Pelvis w/o | 72192 | X | |
| Pelvis with | 72193 | X | |
| Pelvis with & w/o | 72194 | X | |
| Abdomen w/o | 74150 | X | |
| Abdomen with & w/o | 74170 | X | |
| CTA abdomen/pelvis with & w/o | 74174 | X | X†† |
| CTA abdomen with & w/o | 74175 | X†† | |
| Abdomen/pelvis w/o | 74176 | X | X |
| Abdomen/pelvis with | 74177 | X | |
| Abdomen/pelvis with & w/o | 74178 | X | X |
| CT colonography DX | 74261 | X | X |
| CT colonography DX w/dye | 74262 | X | X |
| CT colonography screening | 74263 | X | X |
| PET-CT, limited§ | 78814 | X | X† |
| PET-CT, skull base to mid-thigh§ | 78815 | X | X |
| PET-CT, whole body§ | 78816 | X | X |
| CT scan taken for BCT | 0558T | X | X |
† Check protocol and/or scan for adequate anatomic coverage
†† For CTA scans, BCT Spine can only be performed if an image w/o contrast is also acquired
§ For PET-CT, the non-contrast CT taken for anatomical localization is used for VirtuOst
‡ with, with & w/o, and w/o refer to whether or not intravenous contrast was administered; no IV contrast is allowed for Spine BCT