DIAGNOSTIC RADIOGRAPHIC IMAGING USING A SCANNING GRID

SINCE THE EARLY 20TH CENTURY, IT HAS BEEN RECOGNIZED THAT MEDICAL RADIOGRAPHICS ARE DEGRADED BY THE EFFECTS OF SCATTER. BEGINNING WITH THE INITIAL DEVELOPMENT OF THE BUCKY GRID AND CONTINUING THROUGH MANY IMPROVEMENTS AND ALTERNATIVES, ATTEMPTS TO CONTROL THE AMOUNT OF SCATTER WHILE MAXIMIZING THE TRANSMISSION OF UNSCATTERED PRIMARY RADIATION HAVE ACHIEVED ONLY MODERATE SUCCESS. IN CURRENT STATE-OF-THE-ART IMAGING SYSTEMS, SCATTER LEVELS EXCEED PRIMARY RADIATION LEVELS WHEN THICK BODY PARTS ARE EXAMINED. AS A RESULT, LESS THAN 50 PERCENT OF THE POSSIBLE CONTRAST IS IMAGED. THE SCANNING GRID SYSTEM PROPOSED CAN VIRTUALLY ELIMINATE SCATTER WHEN THICK BODY PARTS ARE IMAGED AND CAN BE USED IN A WIDE VARIETY OF CLINICAL EXAMINATIONS TYPICALLY DONE WITH A BUCKY TABLE UNIT. IN ADDITION, THE SYSTEM WILL PERMIT ANGULATED VIEWS AND IS COMPATIBLE WITH LINEAR TOMOGRAPHY AND LARGE-AREA DIGITAL IMAGE RECEPTORS. EARLIER INVESTIGATIONS HAVE DEMONSTRATED THAT A SCANNING GRID CAN OFFER SIGNIFICANT SCATTER-CONTROL ADVANTAGES. TO MAKE THIS A PRACTICAL DEVICE, TECHNIQUES WILL BE INVESTIGATED TO DEVELOP A MORE EFFICIENT SCANNING GRID THAT COULD BE MANUFACTURED RELIABLY AND COST EFFECTIVELY AS WELL AS A NOVEL AUTOMATIC X-RAY EXPOSURE CONTROL DEVICE SO THAT THE SYSTEM WILL PROVIDE CONSISTENT, HIGH-QUALITY, SCATTER-FREE RADIOGRAPHICS.