Air gap technique for digital subtraction angiography of the extracranial carotid arteries.
The technique of applying an air gap between the patient and the x-ray detector reduces scattered radiation from the patient's neck sufficiently to allow performance of DSA of the extracranial carotid arteries with the antiscatter grid removed. When compared with the conventional grid technique, air gap allows 25 to 88% reduction of mA without increasing the kVp or exposure time and without loss of spatial resolution or diagnostic image quality. These considerable patient radiation-exposure savings can be implemented on DSA systems that use ordinary under-table x-ray tube fluoroscopic equipment without the purchase of additional hardware.
D002339:Carotid Arteries / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D002533:Cerebral Angiography / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011829:Radiation Dosage; D012542:Scattering, Radiation; D013382:Subtraction Technique