Dm. Tucker et Ps. Rezentes, THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PIXEL VALUE AND BEAM QUALITY IN PHOTOSTIMULABLE PHOSPHOR IMAGING, Medical physics, 24(6), 1997, pp. 887-893
Direct digital capture systems are relatively new in diagnostic imagin
g. Full utilization of these devices requires a thorough understanding
of the image formation process. The conversion of x-ray photon energy
to a digital pixel value in a commercially available photostimulable
phosphor (PSP) imaging system is investigated in this paper. Pixel val
ues measured at 16 different combinations of 4 x-ray beam peak voltage
s (60, 80, 100, and 120 kVp) and 4 beam qualities are reported. At 60
and 80 kVp exposures were made at 2.58 x 10(-7) C/kg (1 mR); at 100 an
d 120 kVp exposures were made at 5.16 x 10(-7) C/kg (2 mR). Analysis o
f variance was used to determine the statistical significance of the r
elationship between pixel value and beam quality for a given kVp and e
xposure. A computer model accounting for x-ray spectral effects that a
ccurately predicts pixel value is presented. Calculated pixel values a
gree within 5.0% of measured values over the range of beam energies, e
xposures, and qualities. (C) 1997 American Association of Physicists i
n Medicine.