PHYSICS WEEK 2 – LECTURE 2

Limitations of conventional radiographic images

 Processing time – time for chemical reactions to occur, table to viewing box etc. => more exposure
than they need
 Delay
 Hard copy – image enhancement not possible
 Physical Storage
 Image noise
 Other difficulties
o Difficult to image both soft tissue and bone structures in the same image (bones attenuate
more than soft tissues)
o Difficult to differentiate between the subtle differences of soft tissues (shades of grey – long
exposure, low contrast) => hard to distinguish soft tissue, unless giving the patient longer
exposure
o Unable to gather quantitative info about attenuation characteristics of anatomy
o Image is processed to permanent as is – can’t do anything e.g. enhance

Digital Imaging Techniques applied to (technology always improve and prices always go down)

 Computed Tomography (CT)

 Ultrasonography
 Nuclear Medicine
 Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)
 Digital radiography (DR)
 Digital fluoroscopy (DF)

Detectors

 Linear array of detectors or

 Photostimulable phosphor (area detector)

Image characteristics

 Analogue images
o Continuous level of brightness
 Digital images – a matrix of pixels
o Pixels = picture element
 Each contains a number to represent the shade
o Characteristics of matrix determine resolution of image
o For computer system: (FOV = field of view)
Data representation in computers

Computers deal fundamentally with binary date i.e. data has only ‘2 possible’ values 0, 1

 These binary digits are called BITs and are used to represent numeric values
o E.g.

o Common subunit is a BYTE = 8 bits, WORDS consist of 2 or more bytes (we don’t use WORDS
anymore)
o Need many bits to represent large numbers (dynamic range) e.g. 8 bits can represent 2^8 =
256 distinct values (0 through 255)

Dynamic Range

 Dynamic range is described as the number of shades of grey that can be represented
CT Number

 In CT imaging numeric value of each pixel is a CT number of Hounsfield unit (HU)

 A normalised value of the calculated X-ray absorption coefficient of a pixel in a computed tomogram,
expressed in Hounsfield Units, where the CT number of air is -1000, and that of water is zero

Window level and width (range)

Digital radiography (DR)

 No film is used (although we can print for patients)

 Uses radiation detector (e.g. photostimulable phosphor, scintillation detector array –commonly use)
whose electrical output is proportional to the radiation intensity
 Photostimulated luminescence (PSL) is the release of stored energy within a phosphor by stimulation
with visible light, to produce a luminescent signal
 Scintillation detector array incorporates Scintillation crystal – photodiode assembly

Scan projection radiography (SPR)

 Early implementation of DR
 X-ray projection radiograph by scanning with a fan beam & a linear array detector
 The spatial resolution along the fan beam is determined by the detector aperture, geometric
magnification, and focal spot size
 The spatial resolution in the scanning direction is determined by the fan beam thickness
 Advantages – reduced scatter radiation, better image quality
 SPR requires high heat capacity X-ray tube
 500 to 2000 mAs tube current required
 Can be performed on a computed tomography system by translating the patient through the CT
gantry aperture while transmission measurements are obtained with a fixed X-ray tube position
 SPR uses a linear scintillation detector array
 The most widely used scintillation crystals is Nal(TI) (Sodium iodide doped with thallium). Other
inorganic alkali halide crystals are: CsI(Tl), Csl(Na), (Csl)(pure). Some non-alkali crystals include:
CaF2(Eu) and CdWO4
 Scanning time is the limitations of SPR > image blur due to patient movement

Computed Radiography

 Use an area beam and photostimulable phosphor

 The phosphors used to coat the screen are europium-activated barium fluorohalide crystals
(BaFX:Eu2+ where X is a halogen of either iodine or bromine)
 Charge coupled devices (CCDs) are photosensitive silicon chips and are also used – more increasingly
use nowadays
  LP Layers – Luminous Phosphor Layers

o Protective – protects phosphor

o Phosphor/active – PSP-barium fluorohalide
o Reflective – sends light forward when release in the reader
o Conductive – absorbs/reduces static electricity
o Colour – Absorb stimulating light (laser)/reflects emitted light
o Back support – protects the back of cassette
o Barcode – Match image with patient

Digital radiography – creates latent image in photostimulable phosphor

 Reading the IP
o Red laser light scans in horizontal scanning pattern at 2eV
o Laser scans multiple times as IP
o Light produced – detected by photomultiplier
 Digitizing – device that convert to digital signal
o Phosphor storage center is scanned
o Released electrons enter digitizer divides the analog signal into squares (matrix)
o Each square is assigned a number based on the brightness of the square
o Square is called a pixel (picture element)
Spatial Resolution – determine how fine we can detect features

 Film screen = 10 line pairs per mm

 CR (computed radiography) = 2.55 to 51 line pairs per mm (lp/mm)
 Less detail in CR but more tissue densities seen given the appearance of better detail
 Wider dynamic recording range (improving due to technology always improving e.g. pixels)

Speed – how much we need to expose film to produce image

 Film – determined by size and layers of crystals and phosphors

 CR – amount of photostimulable luminescence given off = 100 film speed screen (approx.) – good
standard film speed
 Increase > in low light
 Decrease > in bright light

Similarities between CR and film radiography

 Same x-ray tube and generator

 Still select optimum kVp and mAs
 Accurate positioning
 Use cassette or image receptor (different things in cassette now)
 There is still a latent image which can be processed into a manifest image (using laser beam)

Differences between CR and film radiography

 Imaging plate rather than intensifying screen/film

 Photostimulable phosphor-europium activated barium fluorohalide phosphor
 200 screen speed equivalent
 Phosphors absorb photos
 Capable of wider latitudes (dynamic range) = better visualisation of soft tissues and bone in the same
image
 Film made of minute strands of black metallic silver
 Digital image = rows and columns called a matrix
 QUESTIONS

Define the following

 Matrix

 Pixel

 Voxel

 Dynamic range

 FOV

Define windowing, and explain window level and window width. Give their typical values for soft tissue,
bone and lung
Your holiday picture was taken using a 4 mega pixel digital camera. What is the pixel size of this picture if
the print size was 30cm X 30cm? What would be the pixel size if you wanted to make a poster of 1sqaure
meter of the same picture?

List some of the disadvantages of conventional radiography and explain how these difficulties are overcome
using digital radiography (DR)

A dedicated DR chest imaging system has a 12 bit dynamic range. How many shades of grey can it render?

Describe the process of reading the IP

Describe the differences and similarities between CR and film radiography