Chest radiography image contrast and exposure dose optimization
A method for obtaining a digital chest x-ray image of a patient. The method includes providing a default set of technique settings for the chest x-ray, wherein the default set is selectable by an operator command and includes using a peak kilovoltage exposure setting that is below 90 kVp with beam filtration of the x-ray, and applying a rib contrast suppression algorithm to the digital chest x-ray image data acquired from the exposure.
1. A method for obtaining a digital chest x-ray image of an adult patient, comprising:
providing a default set of technique settings for acquisition of image data from an x-ray exposure of the adult patient's chest, the default set being selectable by an operator command and includes using a peak kilovoltage exposure setting that is below 90 kVp with beam filtration of the x-ray;
Acquiring the image data of the adult patient's chest using the default set of technique settings;
applying a rib contrast suppression algorithm to the acquired image data to generate the digital chest x-ray image; and
Displaying or storing the digital chest x-ray image.
2. The method of claim 1 wherein the exposure setting is no higher than about 80 kVp.
3. The method of claim 1 wherein the default set of technique settings can be edited following their selection.
4. The method of claim 1 wherein the chest x-ray image is an anteroposterior or posteroanterior.
5. The method of claim 1 wherein the filtration is at least equivalent to 0.1 mm copper.
6. The method of claim 1 wherein the default set of technique settings varies according to patient size.
7. A method for obtaining a digital chest x-ray image of an adult patient, comprising:
accessing an operator instruction that specifies default settings that include exposure at a peak kilovoltage setting that is at or below 90 kVp and filtration equivalent to 0.1 mm copper;
obtaining image data from an x-ray exposure of the adult patient's chest at the specified default settings; and
displaying or storing images of the obtained image data with and without rib contrast suppression processing.
8. The method of claim 7 wherein the exposure peak kilovoltage setting is no higher than about 80 kVp.
9. The method of claim 7 further comprising accepting an operator selection that indicates a relative patient size and adjusting the peak kilovoltage setting and filtration level according to the size selection.
10. A method for obtaining a digital chest x-ray image for an adult patient, comprising:
providing filtration equivalent to at least 0.1 mm copper to an x-ray radiation source;
exposing the chest of the adult patient with exposure from the x-ray radiation source at a peak kilovoltage setting that is at or below 90 kVp to acquire the chest x-ray image;
displaying the acquired chest x-ray image;
processing the acquired x-ray image using rib contrast suppression to generate a rib contrast suppressed chest x-ray image; and
displaying or storing the rib contrast suppressed chest x-ray image.
11. The method of claim 10 wherein the exposure peak kilovoltage setting is no higher than about 80 kVp.
12. The method of claim 10 wherein the chest x-ray image is an anteroposterior or posteroanterior.
13. The method of claim 10 further comprising accepting an operator instruction selecting a level for the rib contrast suppression.