Radiation Protection in Digital

Radiology
Avoiding Artefacts in Digital
Radiography
L07

IAEA
International Atomic Energy Agency
 Educational Objectives

• Explain how the DR image is created.

• Explain how errors in the process can
produce sub-standard images
• Explain about the artefacts in DR

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Radiation Protection in Digital Radiology L07 Avoiding Artefacts in Digital Radiography
 Method III: “Direct” capture:
includes both Indirect DR and Direct
DR
• X-ray-to-light Converters with photodetector
• Fluorescent material such as Gd2O2S:Tb
(gadolinum oxysulfide doped with terbium), CsI:Tl
(cesium iodide doped with thallium), with good x-
ray stopping power
• Also Scintillating Fiber Optics (SFO) as converter
• Photodetector (A Si) relatively transparent to x-
rays
• Direct X-ray Conversion (photoconductor)
• PbI2, HgI2, ZnCeTe (zinc cerium telluride), CdZnTe
(cadmium zinc telluride) with high Z
• Thick layer of a-Se (amorphous selenium)

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Radiation Protection in Digital Radiology L07 Avoiding Artefacts in Digital Radiography
 Digital signal production

• Fluorescent screen with video camera (video-

fluoroscopy, image intensifiers)
• Fluorescent screen with Charged-Coupled Devices
(CCD) or Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor
(CMOS) array
• Optical lens coupling
• Secondary quantum sink
• Fiber optic coupling
• Small area
• Hydrogenated Amorphous Silicon (a-Si:H) with Thin Film
“Flat panels”

Transistors (TFT)
• alternative = switching diode
• requires x-ray converter
• Amorphous Selenium (a-Se) electronically coupled to
TFT

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Radiation Protection in Digital Radiology L07 Avoiding Artefacts in Digital Radiography
 Both Indirect and Direct Flat panel
Detectors depend on Thin Film Transistor
(TFT) arrays
Indirect Direct

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Radiation Protection in Digital Radiology L07 Avoiding Artefacts in Digital Radiography
 Two approaches for making the
projection

• Large Area detector

• Entire image
captured at once
• Synchronous
scanning mechanism
• Collimated x-ray
beam and linear
detector array scan
anatomy
Courtesy JA Seibert, UC-Davis
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Radiation Protection in Digital Radiology L07 Avoiding Artefacts in Digital Radiography
Characteristics of “Direct” capture
systems
+ Rapid acquisition and processing
+ Typically integrated with x-ray
generator
+ No mechanical scan mechanism
— High initial capital investment
— Challenging manufacturing
processes
— Limited systems for bedside
radiography
? Brief history of clinical operation
? Life cycle issues unknown
(durability?)
? Image rendering unknown
? Exposure factor issues

IAEA Courtesy JA Seibert, UC-Davis 7

Radiation Protection in Digital Radiology L07 Avoiding Artefacts in Digital Radiography
 Non-invasive kVp measurement of a
DR system

Sensors in beam No sensors in beam …

Lesson: Tests that involve production of large amounts of radiation requ

protection of the image receptor.

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 What was the previous view
acquired?

• All DR systems are

subject to
“ghosting” and/or
“lag”
• Lag is effective
increase in dark
current (offset)
• Ghosting is a
change in detector
sensitivity (gain)
• a-Se = reduction
• CsI(Tl), a-Si:H =
increase

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Uncorrected DR image is inherently
non-uniform

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Non-uniformities are corrected by
“flat-fielding”

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Radiation Protection in Digital Radiology L07 Avoiding Artefacts in Digital Radiography
Chest image from
a flat panel
obtained at 75 kV
(mistake, using
abdomen
protocol). More
entrance dose and
slight saturation

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Radiation Protection in Digital Radiology L07 Avoiding Artefacts in Digital Radiography
Chest image from a
flat panel obtained
at 75 kV (mistake,
using abdomen
protocol).
More entrance dose
and slight
saturation

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Audit chest bad positioning. Time of first image: 16:29:36. Dose 0.13 mGy

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Radiation Protection in Digital Radiology L07 Avoiding Artefacts in Digital Radiography
Audit chest bad positioning. Time of first image: 16:29:36. Dose 0.13 mGy

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Radiation Protection in Digital Radiology L07 Avoiding Artefacts in Digital Radiography
Audit chest bad positioning. Time of acquisition: 16:30:1; Accepted ..
enough information with both images but two exposures!!

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Radiation Protection in Digital Radiology L07 Avoiding Artefacts in Digital Radiography
Second image (red box) … bad positioning! … Dose 0.206 mGy!!.
Probably, one of the chambers of the AEC was in the mediastinum

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 Raw vs. Corrected DR Image

Bushberg, Seibert, Leidholdt, Boone The Essential

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Radiation Protection in Digital Radiology L07 Avoiding Artefacts in Digital Radiography
 Artifacts related to gain and offset
correction
GE DR Canon DR

Willis CE et al. Appl Radiol. 11-20, 2004

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Composition of image affects
display processing

Default Reprocessed

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Gonadal shielding has drawbacks
• Ovary locations vary
• Shield may obscure clinical features
• Shield may interfere with automatic image
processing

Processed Unprocessed

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 Large patient – covers entire
detector

(if there’s no contrast in the raw image,

there’s not much image processing can do

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 Was there a clinical necessity for
this “appliance”?

Would this have been

any less of an error
with conventional
screen-film?

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 Summary

• DR systems are inherently non-uniform

in two dimensions
• Proper correction of non-uniformity is
critical to DR image quality
• Periodic correction is necessary
• DR systems are subject to lag and
ghosting
• The composition of the DR image affects
the outcome of digital image processing
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 Answer True or False

• DR systems are subject to ghosting or

lag

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 Answer True or False

• True. In DR systems, lag is the

effective increase in dark current and
ghosting is the change in detector
sensitivity.

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 References
• Kabir, M. Z., Yunus, M., Kasap, S. O. (2004) Dependence of x-ray
sensitivity of direct conversion x-ray detectors on x-ray exposure and
exposure history, Proc SPIE, 2004; 5368, 170-176.
• Willis CE, Thompson SK and Shepard SJ. Artifacts and Misadventures
in Digital Radiography. Applied Radiology 33(1):11-20, January 2004.
• Zhao, W., DeCrescenzo, G., Rowlands, J. A. Investigation of lag and
ghosting in amorphous selenium flat-panel x-ray detectors. Proc SPIE,
2002; 4682, 9-20.
• Overdick, M., Solf, T., Wischmann, H. Temporal Artefacts in Flat
Dynamic X-ray Detectors. Proc SPIE, 2001; 4320, 47-58.
• Siewerdsen, J. H., Jaffray, D. A. A ghost story: Spatio-temporal
response characteristics of an indirect-detection flat-panel imager.
Medical Physics, 1999; 26, 1624-1641.
• Seibert JA, Boone JM, Lindfors KK. Flat-field correction technique for
digital detectors. Proc. SPIE, 1998; 3336, 348-354.
• Bushberg JT, Seibert JA, Leidholdt Em and Boone JM. The essential
Physics of Medical Imaging, 2nd Edn Lippincott Williams and Wilkins
2002

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