#30 Specifications, Performance Evaluation and Quality Assurance of Radiographic and Fluoroscopic Systems in the Digital Era
Author: Lee Goldman and Michael Yester, editorsISBN: 9781930524217 ISBN10: 1930524218
Published: 2004 | 300 pp. | Hardcover
OUT OF PRINT
Australasian Physical & Engineering Sciences in Medicine | June 2005
"Another AAPM Summer School has come and gone, and the most recent proceedings have again been published in the form of one of those red, hard-covered monographs (No. 30). I hope that the preceding sentence doesn't sound like I'm not appreciative of the efforts of our American Colleagues, because like many local medical physicists, I have come to appreciate the book shelf line up of very similar looking publications from the annual Summer School.
"A quick flick through the contents page reveals a list of contributors familiar to someone mixing in medical imaging physics circles. If like me you have had to come to terms with CR technology and performance measurement in recent years you will very likely be familiar with the work of Anthony Siebert and Ehsan Samei both of whom have again shared their wisdom with those of us at the coal face. One of the pleasing things about this publication however is the apparently unbiased contributions to the technology compare and contrast discussions made by employees of major imaging equipment vendors. Having attended the Summer School in person and received the pre-publication version of the book in August 2004, I have already found some quick re-reading of John Yorkston's (Kodak) flat-panel detector technology discussion can be usefully applied to my involvement in imaging system purchases.
"For those of you unfamiliar with the format of an AAPM Monograph, this book contains a series of articles (or perhaps papers or chapters) with almost as many authors and writing styles. The authors have presented the material at the Summer School and provide a companion chapter for publication. My experience has been that there certainly is independent value (over and above attendance at the lecture) in the published articles and this monograph is no exception.
"The content of the book is very broadly organised into three topic areas:
1. An introduction/review of radiographic and fluoroscopic technology, with a little clinical practice thrown in. For example, Wlad Sobol provides a useful overview of current clinical applications of radiographic systems as an introduction to his occasionally entertaining chapter entitled 'Advances in and Specification for Radiographic X-ray Systems.' This is the kind of information that can be easily and unfortunately overlooked by a physicist who focuses on the technical aspects of equipment QC.
2. Specific digital imaging technology discussion including some tantalising hints as to how a physicist may specify and measure performance using such metrics as Detective Quantum Efficiency (DQE). This section also includes 'DICOM Basics for Radiographic and Fluoroscopic Systems' which can be used as a kind of quick reference guide for those of us specifying and acceptance testing an X-ray system's PACS connectivity.
3. Practical guides to acceptance testing and performance measurement of digital and general Radiographics/Fluoroscopic (R&F) systems. While it doesn't contain much in the way of original reference material, I would highly recommend Anthony Seibert's CR performance testing article as a starting point read (closely followed by AAPM's Task Group 10 draft report) for anyone establishing a CR performance testing program.
"One of my disappointments with the text is that having both attended the Summer School and read the book I still have many unanswered questions in the brave new world of what most of us call 'DR' X-ray system performance testing. Admittedly my questions would be fewer had I (and the imaging vendors it seems) come to terms with the wonders of DQE assessment according to IEC 62220-1 (2003) and had the resources to perform this as a field measurement.
"The publisher claims this book to be a 'must-have' for those of us involved with installing new imaging equipment - particularly digital radiographic and fluoroscopic systems. I'm not sure I would put it in this category. The book does however include a few useful reference articles on emerging digital X-ray technology and digital image theory. Its practical system testing guidance provides a nice review of the well travelled CR performance testing territory in addition to some new information (consistent with the direction of AAPM Task Group 10 report) to keep more experienced practitioners interested.
"As a final comment, if you're involved with the commissioning or performance evaluation of automatic exposure control (AEC) systems with CR, and particularly if you have the Agfa variety, it's worth borrowing a copy to take a look at Lee Goldman's chapter on 'Speed Values, AEC Performance Evaluation, and QC with Digital Receptors.'"
-Daniel Schick
Biomedical Technology Services
Queensland Health, Australia