J Korean Radiol Soc.  2005 Jul;53(1):61-66. 10.3348/jkrs.2005.53.1.61.

The Effect of Dose Reduction on Image Quality in Digital Radiography Using a Flat-panel Detector: Experimental Study in Rabbits

• Jung SI
• Goo JM
• Lee HJ
• Moon WK
• Lim KY
• Cho G
• Kim JH
• Choi JY
• Nam SH
• Im JG

• KMID: 1900704
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.3348/jkrs.2005.53.1.61

Abstract

PURPOSE
To evaluate the effect of dose reduction on image quality in digital radiography using a flat-panel detector.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
Digital radiographs of 30 rabbits were obtained at two different dose levels (33.23 µGy for the standard dose group and 20.09 µGy for the reduced dose group). The amorphous selenium-based flat-panel detector system had a panel size of 7x8.5 inches, a matrix of 1280x1536 (pixels?), and a pixel pitch of 138 µm. Four observers evaluated the soft-copy images on a high-resolution video monitor (2560x2048x8 bits) in random order. The observers rated the visibility of 13 different anatomic structures on a 5-point scale, viz. the retrocardiac lung, subdiaphragmatic lung, heart border, diaphragmatic border, proximal airway, unobscured lung, liver border, kidney border, bowel gas, flank stripe, ribs, and vertebrae in the mediastinal and abdominal regions. Statistical significance was determined using Wilcoxon's signed rank test.
RESULTS
There was no statistically significant difference in the visibility of the anatomic structures on digital radiography between the standard and reduced dose groups.
CONCLUSION
Digital radiography using an amorphous selenium-based flat-panel detector can preserve the image quality, even though the does is reduced to 40% of the standard level.

Keyword

Digital radiography; Flat-panel detector; Selenium; Radiation dose

MeSH Terms

Heart
Kidney
Liver
Lung
Rabbits*
Radiographic Image Enhancement*
Ribs
Selenium
Spine
Selenium