Rationale and Objectives
The aim of this study was to evaluate a new thick-needle phosphor plate for computed radiography.
Materials and Methods
Two studies were performed. Patients acted as their own controls. In the first study, old powder and new needle phosphor plate technologies were compared. Twenty infants were identified who had undergone chest x-rays with both systems within 3 days of each other. Exposure factors were constant. In the second study, standard and reduced exposure techniques (tube current–time product reduced by 20%) using the needle phosphor technology were compared. Twenty babies who had been imaged with both standard and reduced exposures within 3 days of each other were evaluated.
Results
There was a significant preference for images obtained with the new needle phosphor technology compared with the older powder technology ( P < .01). Using the new needle phosphor plates, a dose reduction of 20% could be achieved without a significant detectable difference between the high-dose and low-dose images ( P < .19).
Conclusions
For the study comparing old and new phosphor plate technology at fixed exposure, images were better with the new technology. Using the new plate technology, dose can be decreased by ≥20%.
There are many methods of reducing radiation exposure for chest imaging in the newborn nursery. With phosphor plate computer imaging, one approach is to use a different detector material in the phosphor plate.
The Agfa Corporation (Mortsel, Belgium) has developed a new thick-needle phosphor plate technology to replace existing thin powder phosphor plates for computed radiography . Our purpose was to evaluate this new technology.
Materials and methods
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Results
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Table 1
Comparison of Old Powder Phosphor Versus New Needle Phosphor
Prefer Old Phosphor Technology Possibly Prefer Old Phosphor Technology No Preference Possibly Prefer New Phosphor Technology Prefer New Phosphor Technology 10 8 6 16 56
P < .01 (null hypothesis).
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Table 2
Comparison of Standard Versus 20% Tube Current–Time Product Reduction with Needle Phosphor Plate Technology
Prefer Higher Dose Possibly Prefer Higher Dose No Preference Possibly Prefer Lower Dose Prefer Lower Dose 29 8 14 11 18
P < .19 (null hypothesis).
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Discussion
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Conclusions
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References
1. Schaetzing R.: Management of pediatric radiation dose using Agfa computed radiography. Pediatr Radiol 2004; 34: pp. S207-S214.
2. Leblanc P, De Winter B. Interview. Needle vs. powder image plate for computer radiography: image quality measurement—Agfa test results using IEC 62220 standard method.
3. Leblanc P., Struye L.: New needle-crystalline CR detector. Proc SPIE 2001; 4320: pp. 59-67.
4. Slovis T.L., Haller J.O., Berdon W.E., Baker D.H., Joseph P.M.: Non-invasive visualization of the pediatric airway. Curr Prob Diagn Radiol 1979; 8: pp. 1-67.