title: A quality-control phantom for digitization of radiographs.
abstract: Quality control is fundamental to the clinical application of digital radiography. A 14 x 17-in phantom radiograph was designed to test digital image quality by measurement of five parameters: high-contrast spatial resolution, low-contrast discrimination, linearity of gray-scale response, high-frequency noise, and geometric distortion. The phantom was used to evaluate the AT&T-Philips CommView picture archival and communications system (AT&T Bell Laboratories, West Long Branch, NJ; Philips Medical Systems, Shelton, CT). High-contrast resolution was found to be greater along the diagonal axis of the system than along either the horizontal or vertical axis. Problems with low-contrast discrimination and linearity of gray-scale response were identified. This phantom provides a simple tool for daily quality assurance testing and an objective standard for comparison of image quality between different digital radiography systems.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center, New York, NY 10032.
authors.forename: E J
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Halpern
authors.forename: P D
authors.initials: PD
authors.lastname: Esser
authors.forename: E L
authors.initials: EL
authors.lastname: Nickoloff
authors.forename: P O
authors.initials: PO
authors.lastname: Alderson
mesh_terms: D011786:Quality Control; D011856:Radiographic Image Enhancement; D011873:Radiology Information Systems