VIDEO IMAGE PROCESSOR FOR FLUOROSCOPIC DOSE REDUCTION

OVER THE PAST 20 YEARS, VARIOUS METHODS FOR REDUCING THE AMOUNT OF RADIATION EXPOSURE ASSOCIATED WITH FLUOROSCOPIC EXAMINATIONS HAVE BEEN SUGGESTED. SOME HAVE BEEN IMPLEMENTED, BUT NONE HAVE FOUND THEIR WAY INTO THE MAINSTREAM OF ROUTINE CLINICAL PRACTICE. PREVIOUS METHODS HAVE FAILED FOR A NUMBER OF REASONS: INADEQUATE TEMPORAL RESOLUTION, CUMBERSOME INSTRUMENTATION, UNACCEPTABLE MOTION ARTIFACTS, OR A COMBINATION THEREOF. THIS PROJECT WILL DEVELOP A DIGITAL FLUOROSCOPIC VIDEO IMAGEPROCESSOR (VIP) CAPABLE OF SIGNIFICANTLY REDUCING RADIATION EXPOSURE TO PATIENTS AND TO RADIOLOGY PROFESSIONAL STAFF WHILE MAINTAINING THE INTEGRITY OF THE FLUOROSCOPIC EXAM IN TERMS OF TEMPORAL AND CONTRAST RESOLUTION, IMAGE NOISE, AND DIGITAL PROCESSING ARTIFACTS. THE VIP WILL OPTIMIZE THE USE OF RADIATION EXPOSURE THROUGH TWO STRATEGIES: MOTION DETECTION AND AUTOMATIC IMAGE ZOOM CONTROL. MOTION DETECTION WILL BE USED TO ADJUST THE BALANCE BETWEEN THE INCIDENT RADIATION EXPOSURE RATE AND THELEVEL OF RECURSIVE FRAME AVERAGING IN SUCH A WAY THAT THE APPARENT LEVEL OF FLUOROSCOPIC IMAGE NOISE REMAINS CONSTANT. AN AUTOMATIC 2:1 DIGITAL ZOOM FEATURE WILL ALLOW THE RADIOLOGIST TO OBTAIN MAGNIFIED VIEWS WITHOUT REQUIRING THE DOSE RATE INCREASE ASSOCIATED WITH THE ELECTRONIC MAGNIFICATION FEATURE OF X-RAY IMAGE INTENSIFIERS. DURING PHASE I, A PROTOTYPE OF THE PROPOSED DEVICE WILL BE CONSTRUCTED AND TESTED. DURING PHASE II, A LOW-COST, DEDICATED DEVICE WILL BE DESIGNED, BUILT, AND EVALUATED IN ASERIES OF CLINICAL STUDIES.