Could the radiographic image quality be affected by the excessive use of the photostimulable phosphor plate?

Abstract

The study aimed to assess the influence of excessive use of a photostimulable phosphor plate (PSP) on the density, image noise, and contrast of radiographs. For that, radiographs of an acrylic block were acquired with a PSP of the Express intraoral system to assess the density and image noise. Initially, five images were obtained and exported (first group). After 400 exposures to X-rays and scannings of PSP, other five images were obtained and exported (second group). The same procedure was done after 800 (third group), 1200 (fourth group), 1600 (fifth group), and 2000 acquisitions (sixth group), resulting in 30 images to be evaluated. The mean and standard deviation of the gray values were calculated for the images using the ImageJ software. For contrast analysis, radiographs of an aluminum step-wedge were acquired with a new PSP following the same acquisition intervals. The percentage of contrast variation was calculated. Another two unused PSP receptors were employed to evaluate the method’s reproducibility. The comparison of the results among the acquisition groups was performed with one-way Analysis of Variance (α=0.05). Intraclass Correlation Coefficient (ICC) assessed the reproducibility of the receptors. Image noise did not differ among the groups (p>0.05). There was a slight increase in density after 400 acquisitions and a slight difference in contrast for all acquisition groups without a pattern of increase or decrease (p<0.05). ICC showed excellent reliability for the methods. Therefore, excessive PSP use slightly affected the radiograph’s density and contrast.

DICOM file format has better radiographic image quality than other file formats: an objective study

“…To summarize, the DICOM image file format showed lower noise, greater uniformity, and higher brightness than the other file formats tested in both digital radiography systems, and the digital systems influenced the objective image quality analyses for all formats. This last result followed previous studies in the scientific literature 10 , 11 , 14 , although other intraoral radiographic systems should be tested to evaluate the current results' reproducibility. Even though the present study has the limiting factor of being an in-vitro study, the result that there is a difference in image quality in different file formats for the two systems evaluated can be used as a reference for future diagnostic studies to verify the real impact of this finding in a clinical setting.…”

“…For the objective assessment of image quality, an acrylic block measuring 3.0 cm height × 4.0 cm length × 2.0 cm width was used. As a homogeneous material with relatively low X-ray attenuation, the purpose of this block was to simulate the attenuation and scattering of the X-ray beam from soft tissues 9 , 10 , 12 , 14 . Radiographic images of this phantom were acquired using two radiographic systems with distinct technologies:…”

“…With the progress of understanding about performing objective analysis to investigate the quality of radiographic and tomographic images, it has been possible to investigate the influence of various factors on the images’ density, contrast, and noise level 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 . The objective analysis allows calculating the mean and standard deviation of gray values of the radiographic images 10 , 14 .…”

“…With the progress of understanding about performing objective analysis to investigate the quality of radiographic and tomographic images, it has been possible to investigate the influence of various factors on the images’ density, contrast, and noise level 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 . The objective analysis allows calculating the mean and standard deviation of gray values of the radiographic images 10 , 14 . From this method, it is possible to measure image noise (mean of the standard deviation (SD) of gray values), image brightness (mean of gray values), and image uniformity (SD of gray values) 10 , 11 , 14 .…”

“…The objective analysis allows calculating the mean and standard deviation of gray values of the radiographic images 10 , 14 . From this method, it is possible to measure image noise (mean of the standard deviation (SD) of gray values), image brightness (mean of gray values), and image uniformity (SD of gray values) 10 , 11 , 14 . Therefore, the current study aimed to objectively assess the influence of the file format on the image quality parameters (image noise, brightness, and uniformity) of periapical radiographs acquired with different digital systems.…”