New Technology for Computed Radiography

描述（由申请人提供）：本研究旨在探索、发展和评估一种用于数字乳房x线摄影的新型计算机x线摄影（CR）。该方法旨在克服当前CR技术众所周知的局限性，即与超优空间分辨率和剂量效率相关的局限性。CR技术是一种低成本的数字乳房x光检查方法，但由于发展速度缓慢和缺乏真正创新的方法，它从未在美国临床应用。提议的方法代表了对先前技术的彻底背离。它集成了易于获得的组件，而且集成成本不高。我们广泛的计算和实验工作的结果表明，良好的图像质量和剂量效率，将用于开发一个原型，其中包含扫描CR板的组件。这将实现高光信号捕获效率、更快的读出、良好的空间分辨率、紧凑的尺寸和低成本。将对系统的电子、光学和机械特性进行评估，以促进改进性能的修改。普遍接受的方法，如调制传递函数和探测量子效率将用于评估成像能力和新成像系统的整体性能。将进行阈值对比细节研究，将其性能与现有技术进行比较。预计这种新的数字x射线成像方法将比已经尝试用于数字乳房x线摄影的现有最先进的CR技术具有更高的对比度和空间分辨率。CR技术非常适合并且迫切需要具有成本效益的数字乳房x光检查，但目前的技术尚未达到这项任务所需的高图像质量标准。本研究不仅涉及原型的开发，还涉及理论公式来预测所提出的和其他类型的CR器件在各种条件下的性能。这将有助于开发最先进的CR设备，这些设备与其他x射线成像模式相当或更好，并且具有便携性和易于集成的优势。这种盒式包装的低成本高分辨率CR板阅读器的潜在影响可能非常高，因为它可以很容易地适应当前临床实践的需要。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This research is aimed at exploring, developing, and evaluating a new type of computed radiography (CR) for digital mammography. This approach is designed to overcome the well-known limitations of current CR technology that are associated with supoptimal spatial resolution and dose efficiency. CR technology is the low cost approach to digital mammography but it has never been used clinically in the US due to the slow pace of development and the lack of a trully innovative approach. The proposed approach represents a radical departure from prior technology. It incorporates readily-available components, and integration can be inexpensive. The results of our extensive computational and experimental work, that suggest good image quality and dose efficiency, will be used to develop a prototype that incorporates the components for scanning CR plates. This would enable high optical signal capture efficiency, faster readout, good spatial resolution, compact size, and low cost. Evaluation of the electronic, optical and mechanical characteristics of the system will be performed that will prompt modifications for improved performance. Universally accepted methodology such as modulation transfer function and detective quantum efficiency will be applied for the evaluation of the imaging capabilities and overall performance of the new imaging system. Threshold contrast detail studies will be conducted to compare its performance with current technologies. It is anticipated that this new digital x-ray imaging approach will enable greater contrast and spatial resolution than existing state-of-the-art CR technology that has been attempted for digital mammography. CR technology is ideally suited and desperately needed for cost efficient digital mammography but the current technology has not yet met the high image quality standards that are required for this task. This research deals not only with the development of a protoype but also with the theoretical formulation to predict the performance of the proposed and aother types of CR devices under a variety of conditions. This would enable the development of state-of-the art CR devices that are equivalent or better to other x-ray imaging modalities with the added advantage of portatbility and ease of integration. The potential impact of this inherently low-cost high resolution CR plate reader in a cassette-like package can be very high as it can be easily adapted to the needs of current clinical practice.