Image Quality Comparison and Clinical Evaluation for U-Arm Digital Radiography

Abstract

The aim of this research was to assess the image quality and clinical evaluation for the proposed U-arm digital radiography system. The development of the proposed U-arm digital radiography system includes both hardware and software parts. The quality of images from the proposed system was tested and compared with three different machines using a radiographic image quality phantom and a radiographic chest phantom. Then two specialized radiologists conducted clinical evaluation based on visual grading analysis. The experimental results show that the X-ray image from the proposed machine yielded the high-contrast resolution of 3.1 line pairs per mm, while others were in the range of 2.8-3.4 line pairs per mm. The low contrast detectability and grayscale level discrimination are comparable to other machines. Two specialized radiologists evaluated the image quality of 42 volunteers and the overall satisfaction was about 82%. The image quality of the proposed digital radiography machine using the phantom is comparable to other digital radiography machines. Moreover, the evaluation from two radiologists confirms its capability for screening and diagnosis in chest imaging.