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British Journal of Radiology (2003) 76, 177-188
© 2003 British Institute of Radiology
doi: 10.1259/bjr/52734084
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Full Paper

A study and optimization of lumbar spine X-ray imaging systems

G McVey, D.Phil1, M Sandborg, PhD2, D R Dance, PhD, FIPEM1 and G Alm Carlsson, PhD, FInstP2

1Joint Department of Physics, The Royal Marsden NHS Trust, Fulham Road, London SW3 6JJ, UK and 2Department of Radiation Physics, Faculty of Health Sciences, Linköping University, SE581 85 Linköping, Sweden

Correspondence: G McVey: North Wales Medical Physics, Glan Clwyd Hospital, Bodelwyddan, Denbighshire LL18 5UJ, UK

A Monte Carlo program has been developed that incorporates a voxel phantom of an adult patient in a model of the complete X-ray imaging system, including the anti-scatter grid and screen–film receptor. This allows the realistic estimation of patient dose and the corresponding image (optical density map) for a wide range of equipment configurations. This paper focuses on the application of the program to lumbar spine anteroposterior and lateral screen–film examinations. The program has been applied to study the variation of physical image quality measures and effective dose for changing system parameters such as tube voltage, grid design and screen–film system speed. These variations form the basis for optimization of these system parameters. In our approach to optimization, the best systems are those that can match (or come close to) the calculated image quality measure of systems preferred in a recent European clinical trial, but with lower patient dose. The largest dose savings found were 21% for a 400 speed class system with a grid having a strip density of 40 cm-1 and a grid ratio of 16. A further dose saving of 13% was possible when a 600 speed class system was employed. The best systems found from the optimization correspond to those recommended by the European Commission guidelines on image quality criteria for diagnostic radiographic images.

Key Words: A7g • B1h






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