The application of image quality measurements for digital angiography.

The image quality (IQ) evaluation of a charge-coupled device (CCD)-based digital angiography system was assessed with respect to modulation transfer function and noise power spectrum. These values were used to calculate the system's frequency-dependent detective quantum efficiency (DQE). The X-ray image detector was an image intensifier (II) lens coupled to a CCD camera. Two measurement setups were used. Setup A is standard IQ assessment, while Setup B more closely represented clinical conditions (polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) of varying thickness placed between the X-ray tube and II, with test object positioned between PMMA slices 30 cm from the II). Exposure parameters varied according to automatic brightness control settings. Setup B included X-ray radiation scattered by the patient-PMMA. A clinical DQE, describing the transmission of the input signal-to-noise ratio associated with both primary and secondary X-ray spectra, was defined.