SPATIALLY MODULATED RADIOGRAPHIC ILLUMINATOR

THE OBJECTIVE OF THIS PROJECT IS TO DEVELOP A SYSTEM FOR THEOPTIMIZED VIEWING OF MEDICAL X-RAY FILM. ILLUMINATORS CURRENTLY USED TO VIEW RADIOGRAPHS HAVE A FIXED-AREA, SPATIALLY UNIFORM LIGHT OUTPUT. THIS ALLOWS EXTRANEOUS LIGHT TO DEGRADE VISUAL PERFORMANCE AND LIMITS THE VIEWABLE FILM DENSITY RANGE TO THE DYNAMIC RANGE OF THE EYE AT A GIVEN ADAPTATION LEVEL. THE VIEWING SYSTEM WILL PROVIDE SPATIALLY MODULATED ILLUMINATION TO REDUCE THE RANGE OF LIGHT INTENSITIES TRANSMITTED THROUGH AND AROUND THE X-RAY IMAGE AND THUS LESSEN OPTICAL GLARE, IMPROVE PHOTORECEPTOR SENSITIVITY AND EXPAND VIEWABLE FILM LATITUDE WITHOUT COMPROMISING CONTRAST OR RESOLUTION. SPECIFICALLY, THIS APPROACH TO FILM VIEWING SHOULD REDUCE WHAT IS A SIGNIFICANT FALSE-NEGATIVE RATE IN DETECTING PULMONARY NODULES ON CHEST FILMS. TO ACHIEVE THESE GOALS, THE PROJECTWILL AIM TO DEVELOP 1) A LARGE-AREA, FLAT-PANEL SPATIAL LIGHT MODULATOR, 2) A VARIABLE LIGHT SOURCE WITH SUFFICIENT INTENSITY TO ENABLE PHOTOPIC VIEWING OF RADIOGRAPHS OVER A WIDE DENSITY RANGE, AND 3) A MECHANISM TO PROVIDE AUTOMATIC ILLUMINATION CONTROL. NO CURRENT TECHNOLOGICAL EMBODIMENT CAN PROVIDE LARGE-AREA SPATIAL MODULATION OF LIGHT AT SUFFICIENT INTENSITY FOR READING RADIOGRAPHS. THE OBJECTIVE OF THIS PROJECT IS TO DEVELOP A SYSTEM FOR THEOPTIMIZED VIEWING OF MEDICAL X-RAY FILM. ILLUMINATORS CURRENTLY USED TO VIEW RADIOGRAPHS HAVE A FIXED-AREA, SPATIALLY UNIFORM LIGHT OUTPUT. THIS ALLOWS EXTRANEOUS LIGHT TO DEGRADE VISUAL PERFORMANCE AND LIMITS THE VIEWABLE FILM DENSITY RANGE TO THE DYNAMIC RANGE OF THE EYE AT A GIVEN ADAPTATION LEVEL. THE VIEWING SYSTEM WILL PROVIDE SPATIALLY MODULATED ILLUMINATION TO REDUCE THE RANGE OF LIGHT INTENSITIES TRANSMITTED THROUGH AND AROUND THE X-RAY IMAGE AND THUS LESSEN OPTICAL GLARE, IMPROVE PHOTORECEPTOR SENSITIVITY AND EXPAND VIEWABLE FILM LATITUDE WITHOUT COMPROMISING CONTRAST OR RESOLUTION. SPECIFICALLY, THIS APPROACH TO FILM VIEWING SHOULD REDUCE WHAT IS A SIGNIFICANT FALSE-NEGATIVE RATE IN DETECTING PULMONARY NODULES ON CHEST FILMS. TO ACHIEVE THESE GOALS, THE PROJECTWILL AIM TO DEVELOP 1) A LARGE-AREA, FLAT-PANEL SPATIAL LIGHT MODULATOR, 2) A VARIABLE LIGHT SOURCE WITH SUFFICIENT INTENSITY TO ENABLE PHOTOPIC VIEWING OF RADIOGRAPHS OVER A WIDE DENSITY RANGE, AND 3) A MECHANISM TO PROVIDE AUTOMATIC ILLUMINATION CONTROL. NO CURRENT TECHNOLOGICAL EMBODIMENT CAN PROVIDE LARGE-AREA SPATIAL MODULATION OF LIGHT AT SUFFICIENT INTENSITY FOR READING RADIOGRAPHS.