Evaluation of chest and abdominal exposure dose appropriate for a digital image reader system incorporating a columnar-crystal structured phosphor plate and a contrast-detail phantom.

We evaluated a newly developed digital image reader incorporating a columnar-crystal structured phosphor plate (CPP) to determine its effectiveness for chest and abdominal exposures by assessing contrast-detail (C-D) curves and image quality figure values obtained from a C-D phantom. With the help of five radiologic technologists with 5 years or more of experience in the interpretation of plain radiographs, we assessed chest and abdominal radiographic films that had undergone image processing. The exposure dose required for obtaining the same image quality under chest exposure conditions (110 kV) was 66% of that necessary for a conventionally used computed radiography system incorporating a powder phosphor plate, whereas the percentage under abdominal exposure conditions (85 kV) was 82%. The rate of dose reduction varied depending on the anatomic region radiographed, the exposure conditions applied, and the method of image processing employed. Because the CPP has a higher X-ray detection efficiency than the hitherto-used powder phosphor plate, its use has to potential to reduce the patients' radiation exposure dose.

Evaluation of digital linear tomosynthesis imaging of total joint arthroplasty using an amorphous selenium flat-panel detector.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the clinical potential application of digital linear tomosynthesis in the imaging of hip prostheses. Volumetric x-ray digital linear tomosynthesis was used to image hip prostheses. The device used for an object of comparison assumed x-ray radiograph and computer tomography (CT) imaging. The results showed that the visualization of hip prostheses is improved by the ability to produce sectional images that blur overlying structures and yield three-dimensional (3D) information of the hip joint. The streak artifacts from the metallic components of CT devices limit the usefulness of CT in this application. The flexibility of digital linear tomosynthesis, as well as the fact that through an appropriate choice of modified filtered backprojection (FBP) algorithms it can suppress streak artifacts, potentially makes it an appropriate approach for evaluating hip prostheses. The potential of digital linear tomosynthesis in the evaluation of hip prostheses was demonstrated. Future investigations will study the ability of digital linear tomosynthesis to quantify the spatial relationships between the metallic components of these devices as well as the ability of digital linear tomosynthesis to identify bony changes of diagnostic consequence.