COMPUTER-CONTROLLED X-RAY IMAGE ANALYZER

RAD-IMAGE CORPORATION PROPOSES TO DEVELOP A PORTABLE, MICROCOMPUTER-CONTROLLED SCANNING DIGITIZER AND AUXILIARY DEVICES TO MEASURE: (1) X-RAY TARGET INTENSITY DISTRIBUTIONSDIRECTLY; (2) LIGHT INTENSITY DISTRIBUTIONS FROM FLUORESCENTSCREENS, IMAGE INTENSIFIERS, AND BACKLIGHTED, DEVELOPED X-RAY FILMS; AND (3) KILOVOLTAGE, X-RAY EXPOSURE, HALF-VALUELAYERS, AND TIME OF EXPOSURE. IT IS ALSO PLANNED TO DEVELOP SOFTWARE TO: (1) CALCULATE ANDDISPLAY, IN 3-D GRAPHICS, OPTICAL TRANSFER FUNCTIONS AND MODULATION TRANSFER FUNCTIONS FROM MEASURED POINT-SPREAD FUNCTIONS; AND (2) CHARACTERIZE AND CALCULATE X-RAY EXPOSUREPARAMETERS AND PREDICT X-RAY IMAGE PARAMETERS. IN ADDITION,EDUCATIONAL SOFTWARE TO EXPLAIN THE PHYSICAL BASIS OF X-RAY IMAGE THEORY WILL BE DEVELOPED. THE PORTABLE SYSTEM WILL ENABLE THE IMAGING CHARACTERISTICS OF AN X-RAY SYSTEM TO BE MEASURED RAPIDLY IN SITU IN THE FIELD AT A LEVEL OF SOPHISTICATION FOUND NOW ONLY AT ADVANCED LABORATORY FACILITIES AND REQUIRING SUBSTANTIAL TIME. THE INCREASED KNOWLEDGE OF IMAGE PARAMETERS SHOULD IMPROVE THE LEVEL OF MEDICAL IMAGE QUALITY AND REDUCE PATIENT RADIATION DOSE. THE DEVELOPED SYSTEM WILL PERFORM X-RAY UNIT MEASUREMENTS NOW REQUIRING SEVERAL INSTRUMENTS, AND IT WILL USE RECENT SOLID-STATE ADVANCEMENTS IN MICROCOMPUTER HARDWARE. IT HAS SIGNIFICANT POTENTIAL IN NON-X-RAY IMAGE SYSTEMS BECAUSE OF ITS PORTABILITY, EASE OF USE, MULTIFUNCTION CAPABILITY, AND MAJOR COST SAVINGS COMPARED TO OTHER INSTRUMENTS AND METHODS.