Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Development of a computer simulation technique for low-dose chest radiographs: a phantom study

  • Published:
Radiological Physics and Technology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The present study aimed to develop a simple computer simulation method of low-dose radiographs based on a radiograph acquired at a clinical-dose level. A chest phantom was used for the development of this method. In this method, a simulated low-dose image was obtained from a clinical-dose image using an input–output characteristic curve of a flat panel detector and noise metrics of the standard deviation (SD) and noise power spectrum. We applied this method for low-dose images of a chest phantom to evaluate the simulation accuracy. The noise SDs were compared between the simulated and real images corresponding to 1/2, 1/4, and 1/8 of clinical doses. The relative error of noise SDs in the chest phantom images was less than 3%. Therefore, we believe that the proposed simulation method has the potential to be useful for determination of the optimal exposure condition in chest radiography to reduce patients’ exposure dose.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8
Fig. 9

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. International commission on radiological protection: radiological protection and safety in medicine. ICRP Publication 73. Ann. ICRP26. Oxford: Pergamon Press; 1996. p. 1–47.

  2. Moores DM, Regulla D. A review of the scientific basis for radiation protection of the patient. Radiat Prot Dosim. 2011;147:22–9.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Hendee WR, Edward FM. ARALA and an integrated approach to radiation protection. Semin Nucl Med. 1986;16:142–50.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Uffmann M, Schaefer-Prokop C. Digital radiography: the balance between image quality and required radiation dose. Eur J Radiol. 2009;72:202–8.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Willis CE, Slovis TL. The ALARA concept in pediatric CR and DR: dose reduction in pediatric radiographic exams—a white paper conference executive summary. Pediatr Radiol. 2004;34:162–4.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Sund P, Båth M, Kheddache S, Månsson LG. Comparison of visual grading analysis and determination of detective quantum efficiency for evaluating system performance in digital chest radiography. Eur Radiol. 2004;14:48–58.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Saunders RS, Samei E. A method for modifying the image quality parameters of digital radiographic images. Med Phys. 2003;30:3006–177.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Samei E, Flynn MJ, Eyler WR. Detection of subtle lung nodules: relative influence of quantum and anatomic noise on chest radiographs. Radiology. 1999;213:727–34.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Veldkamp WJH, Kroft LJM, Geleijns J. Dose and perceived image quality in chest radiography. Eur J Radiol. 2009;72:209–17.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Bochud FO, Valley JF, Verdun FR, Hessler C, Schnyder P. Estimation of the noisy component of anatomical backgrounds. Med Phys. 1999;26:1365–70.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Veldkamp WJH, Kroft LJM, Van Delft JPA, Geleijns J. A technique for simulating the effect of dose reduction on image quality in digital chest radiography. J Digit Imaging. 2009;22:114–25.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Tanaka R, Ichikawa K, Matsubara K, Kawashima H. Review of a simple noise simulation technique in digital radiography. Radiol Phys Technol. 2012;5:178–85.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Båth M, Håkansson M, Tingberg A, Månsson LG. Method of simulating dose reduction for digital radiographic systems. Radiat Prot Dosim. 2005;114:253–9.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Saito Y, Kawai A, Fujita N, Yamada M, Kodera Y. Reduction of patient dose in digital mammography: simulation of low-dose image from a routine dose. Lect Notes Comput Sci. 2012;7361:611–8.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Saito Y, Sakai M, Fujita N, Kodera Y. Reduction of patient dose in digital mammography: simulation of low-dose image using computed radiography system and flat panel detector system. Proc of SPIE. 2013;8668:86684K.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Samei E, Peck DJ. Hendee's physics of medical imaging. Hoboken: Wiley; 2019. p. 105–125.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We are grateful to Dr. Kenji Tokumori, Dr. Hidemi Kamezawa and Dr. Keiich Shida for their important contributions to the chest phantom experiments.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Radiological Sciences, Graduate School of Health Sciences, Teikyo University, 6-22 Misakimachi, Omuta, Fukuoka, 836-8505, Japan

    Rie Murakami & Shigehiko Katsuragawa

Authors
  1. Rie Murakami
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Shigehiko Katsuragawa
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Rie Murakami.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Human and animal rights statement

This research does not involve human participants and animals.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Murakami, R., Katsuragawa, S. Development of a computer simulation technique for low-dose chest radiographs: a phantom study. Radiol Phys Technol 13, 111–118 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12194-020-00555-6

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12194-020-00555-6

Keywords

Search

Navigation