IMAGE QUALITY STUDY IN 3D X-RAY ANGIOGRAPHY - A FIRST APPROACH USING THE EXPERIMENTAL-DESIGN STRATEGY

The visual detection of fine structures and the accuracy of the quanti tation of geometric and densitometric features, are closely related to the quality of the images available in two-dimensional (2D) and three -dimensional (3D) X-ray angiography. In this context, we propose to an alyze all the parameters influencing this accuracy using an experiment al design strategy. Preliminary tests of this procedure, applied to 2D and 3D angiographic data obtained from a dedicated phantom, yield enc ouraging results. We show that the detection of small arteries in a 3D angiogram is more sensitive to the number of projections than to the X-ray dose.