DYNAMIC-RANGE CONTROL PROCESSING OF DIGITAL CHEST IMAGES - A CLINICAL-EVALUATION

Purpose: The clinical usefulness of an advanced image-processing syste m called ''dynamic range control processing'' was investigated, with w hich selected parts of the dynamic range of digital chest images could be controlled. Material and Methods: A comparative study of 3 differe nt post-processed formats of storage phosphor (SR) images was performe d in 35 patients with abnormalities in the chest. The 3 formats were S R images with standard mode (SR-standard), SR images with strong edge- enhancement (SR-enhanced), and dynamic range controlled SR images (SR- controlled). Results: For lung abnormalities, there was no difference among the 3 SR image formats. For normal mediastinal structures and lu ng abnormalities covered by the heart or diaphragm, SR-controlled and SR-enhanced images were significantly superior to SR-standard images, while no difference was found between SR-controlled and SR-enhanced im ages except for the trachea and bony structures. Conclusion: Dynamic r ange control processing appears to be a useful method for displaying S R chest images with an extremely wide dynamic range.