Application of contrast-to-noise ratio in optimizing beam quality for digital chest radiography: comparison of experimental measurements and theoretical simulations

The contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) has been employed in optimizing beam quality for imaging a chest phantom using digital radiography. The relationship between CNR and tube potential has been studied for regions of different attenuations representing the lung, heart and abdomen, and a figure of merit (FOM) incorporating effective dose has been calculated to enable dose performance to be included. Direct measurements of imaging performance have been compared with simulations based on a model representing object attenuations. The study has shown reasonable agreement between measurements of CNR and calculated values. The CNR values in the lung and heart regions are higher at 60-80 kV, while those for the abdomen are higher at 90-110 kV. Incorporating a 0.2 mm copper filter has minimal effect on image quality and the FOM is higher because of the reduction in dose. For imaging the heart and abdomen, performance was improved through use of a technique to remove scatter, with an air-gap technique giving a higher FOM because of the lower dose. The CNR and FOM can provide useful quantities for evaluating imaging performance to optimize beam quality for different imaging tasks.