• Journal of radiological science and technology
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• v.38 no.3
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• pp.205-211
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• 2015

We evaluated the effectiveness of TL (Time Limit) method by comparing with NTL (Non-time limit) method when it is used for examinations for abdomen Anterior Posterior (AP) in this paper. The evaluation was conducted based on the comparison of dose, and of signal to noise ratio (SNR) and contrast to ratio (CNR) on both methods. The experiments were conducted with XGEO GC 80 (Samsung, Korea), Unfors ThinX RAD (Unfors, Sweden) and Rando Phantom (Alderson research laboratories, USA) and shielding material with the size of $5.5{\times}9{\times}0.1cm^3$. It was set to activate only two upper ionization chambers in automatic exposure control(AEC) mode and the tube-voltage was set to 80kVp. When the exposure time was limited, it is limited to 51 msec. The images both by NTL AEC method and TL AEC method were acquired when with and without attachment of shielding material on the upper ionization chambers. The images were evaluated by SNR and CNR which are the image evaluation methods using 'Image J'. The NTL AEC method showed increases in dose as much as 130.7% at maximum and 80% at minimum than other methods. The TL AEC method showed decreases in mAs and exposure dose than the NTL AEC method as much as 43.8% and 44.4% respectively. There were no significant differences in SNR or CNR for the experiments (($p{\geq}0.05$). Therefore, it is suggested that the TLAEC mode is more effective when examining patients who have high BMI index or a patient with a metallic substance in the body after surgery.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.5 no.6
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• pp.421-426
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• 2011

This research was accomplished to assess dose effects on image quality at computed radiography (CR). The ultimate target of the research was finding optimized exposure that provides necessary image quality for the clinical chest diagnosis. Modulation transfer function (MTF), normalized noise power spectrum (NNPS), and Noise equivalent quanta (NEQ) corresponding to the different doses were measured for the assessment of image quality. The preparation of "edge test device" used in MTF measurement and experimental geometry setup were followed by the recommendations of International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC). The experimental results show the necessary image quality can be achieved even at a half of the automatic exposure control (AEC) setting dose for chest diagnosis. It means that the patient exposure can be reduced dramatically by using optimized dose.

• Journal of radiological science and technology
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• v.44 no.1
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• pp.39-46
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• 2021

This study confirmed the usefulness of the copper filter according to the mode change by comparing and analyzing the energy change according to the application of the copper filter and the change in effective dose and image quality according to the distance to the subject in the DR(Digital Radiography) system. The average energy increased when the copper filter was applied and the reduction rate by 50% of mAs was increased as the thickness of the copper filter increased according to the application of the 10 kVp rule in AEC mode. The effective dose decreased as the thickness increased when the copper filter was applied in AEC(Automatic Exposure Control) mode and manual mode according to the application of the 10 kVp rule, and the decrease rate decreased with increasing 10 kVp increments. As a result of analyzing the dicom images for AEC mode and manual mode with Image J. the PSNR(Peak Signal to Noise Ratio) values were approximate values of less than 30 dB for each mode and for each copper filter thickness. When the copper filter was applied, the average energy increased, so when the 10 kVp rule was applied, the mAs for each mode could be reduced, and the effective dose could also be reduced. However, as the distance and tube voltage increased, the reduction rate of mAs decreased, and the quality of the image was found to decrease when the copper filter was applied, but there was no difference in quality of the image when the copper filter thickness increased.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.368-380
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• 2019

This study proposes a method to evaluate the performance of a detector by analyzing the dynamic step wedge and histogram according to the change of the tube voltage and sensitivity when using the Automatic Exposure Control (AEC). The performance of a detector was evaluated by measuring X-ray quality, Entrance Surface Dose (ESD), tube current, dynamic range corresponding to detector sensitivities of S200, S400, S800, S1000 per tube voltage of 60, 70, 81, 90 kVp. As a results, all of the qualities satisfied the acceptance criteria, and the Entrance Surface Dose and tube current were decreased stage by stage as sensitivity was set higher. In the dynamic step wedge, the observable dynamic range has also increased as tube voltage became higher. The histogram showed the quantization separation phenomena as the tube voltage was set higher. The higher the sensitivity, the more the underflow and overflow occurred in which the amount of information on both ends of the histogram was lost. In conclusion, the deterioration in the performance of the detector was found to be insufficient to realize the change of the tube voltage and sensitivity when using the Automatic Exposure Control, and it is useful to use dynamic step wedge and histogram in evaluating detector performance evaluation.

• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine Technology
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.55-62
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• 2015

Purpose Various methods for reducing radiation exposure have been continuously being developed. The aim of this study is to evaluate effectiveness of dose reduction, image quality and PET SUV changes by applying combination of automatic exposure dose(AEC), automated dose-optimized selection of X-ray tube voltage(CAREkV) and sinogram affirmed iterative reconstruction(SAFIRE) which can be controled by user. Materials and Methods Torso, AAPM CT performance and IEC body phantom images were acquired using biograph mCT64, (Siemens, Germany) PET/CT scanner. Standard CT condition was 120 kV, 40 mAs. Radiation exposure and noise were evaluated by applying AEC, CAREkV(120 kV, 40 mAs) and SAFIRE(120 kV, 25 mAs) with torso phantom compare to standard CT condition. And torso, AAPM and IEC phantom images were acquired with combination of 3 methods in condition of 120 kV, 25 mAs to evaluate radiation exposure, noise, spatial resolution and SUV changes. Results When applying AEC, CTDIvol and DLP were decreased by 50.52% and 50.62% compare to images which is not applying AEC. mAs was increased by 61.5% to compensate image quality according to decreasing 20 kV when applying CAREkV. However, CTDIvol and DLP were decreased by 6.2% and 5.5%. When reference mAs was the lower and strength was the higher, reduction of radiation exposure rate was the bigger. Mean SD and DLP were decreased by 2.2% and 38% when applying SAFIRE even though mAs was decreased by 37.5%(from 40 mAs to 25 mAs). Combination of 3 methods test, SD decreased by 5.17% and there was no significant differences in spatial resolution. And mean SD and DLP were decreased by 6.7% and 36.9% compare to 120 kV, 40 mAs with AEC. For SUV test, there was no statistical differences(P>0.05). Conclusion Combination of 3 methods shows dose reduction effect without degrading image quality and SUV changes. To reduce radiation exposure in PET/CT study, continuous effort is needed by optimizing various dose reduction methods.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.17 no.5
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• pp.685-691
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• 2023

This study aims to raise awareness of the exposure index according to the Sub-ROI in clinical use by studying the effect of Sub-ROI's change on exposure index and dose during Chest PA examination. In this study, to examine the changes in EI and ESD according to the Sub-ROI setting, the irradiation conditions were set to 120 kVp, 200 mA, 2 mAs, and the SID was fixed to 180cm. Five types of Sub-ROI were used. The average value of EI according to the Sub-ROI's change was 135.58 ± 0.89 in AEC, 100.80 ± 0.80 in VR, 143.43 ± 0.76 in HR, 103.22 ± 0.68 in LS, and 102.79 ± 0.84 in SS. The mean value of ESD was 30.28±0.50 µGy in AEC, 30.16 ± 0.44 µGy in VR, 30.30 ± 0.46 µGy in HR, 30.23 ± 0.46 µGy in LS, and 30.28 ± 0.51 µGy in SS. As a result of this study, based on the AEC mode recommended by the manufacturer, the VR (25.7%), LS (23.9%), and SS (24.2%) modes decreased, and the HR mode increased by 5.7%. However, ESD was not affected by the Sub-ROI's change. Therefore, Sub-ROI may change EI during the Chest PA examination, it is considered that Sub-ROI should be used appropriately when setting protocols in clinical use.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.10 no.5
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• pp.321-325
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• 2016

Dose creep is one of clinical errors that arises from the tester's inexperience or carelessness, and according to Task Group #116 of American Association of Physicists in Medicine, its continued occurrence is being reported in the digital method. At this point, the demand for an automatic exposure control device that minimizes the dose creep phenomenon and can improve reproducibility is increasing. In this study is to consider the automatic exposure control device sensor that can is not only easy to produce, but also reduce the dose creep phenomenon by conducting a research on high-efficient semiconductor sensor. As a result, the Intrinsic-type and PIN-type sensors have excellent optical property compared to Ref sensor, would have less shading effect, and have relatively low sensitivity, but would provide accurate feedback signals to automatic exposure control device with its consistent tendency according to exposure condition changes.

• Journal of radiological science and technology
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• v.37 no.3
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• pp.177-185
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• 2014

This study focused on effects of patient exposure dose reduction with AEC (Auto Exposure Control) marker that is designed for showing location of AEC in X-ray Chest radiography. It included 880 adults who have to use Chest X-ray Digital Radiography system (DRS, LISTEM, Korea). AEC (Ion chambers are posited in top of both sides) are used to every adult and set X-ray system as Field size $17{\times}17inch$, 120kVp, FFD 180cm. 440 people of control group are posited on detector to include both sides of lung field and the other 440 people of experimental group are set to contact their lung directly to Ion chamber (making marker to shows location). Then, measured every DAP and, estimated patient effective dose by using PCXMC 2.0. The average age of control group (M:F=245:195) is 53.9 and the average BMI is 23.4. BMI ranges from under weight: 35, normal range: 279, over weight: 106 to obese: 20 and average DAP is 223.56mGycm2, Mean effective dose is 0.045mSv. The average age of experimental group (M:F=197:243) is 53.7 and the average BMI is 22.7. BMI ranges from under weight: 34, normal range: 315, over weight: 85 to obese: 6 and average DAP is 207.36mGycm2, Mean effective dose is 0.041mSv. Experimental group shows less Mean effective dose as 0.004mSv (9.7%) than control group. Also, patient numbers who got over exposure more than 0.056mSv (limit point to know efficiency of AEC marker) is 65 in control group (14.7%), 19 in experimental group (4.3%) and take statistics with t-Test. The statistical difference between two groups is 0.006. In order to use proper amount of X-ray in auto exposure controlled chest X-ray system, matching location between ion chamber and body part is needed, and using AEC marker (designed for showing location of ion chamber) is a way to reduce unnecessary patient exposure dose.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.257-265
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• 2024

In this study, we applied AEC(Auto Exposure Control), which is used in many chest examinations, to evaluate whether medical devices inserted into the body affect the dose and image quality of chest images. After attaching three HIMD(Human implantable medical devices) to the ion chamber, the Monte Carlo methodology-based program PCXMC(PC Program for X-ray Monte Carlo) 2.0 was applied to measure the effective dose by inputting the DAP(Dose Ares Product) value derived from the Pacemaker and CRT and Chemoport Additionally, to evaluate image quality, we set three regions of interest and one noise region on the chest and measured SNR and CNR. The final study results showed significant differences in DAP and Effective dose. There was a significant difference between Pacemaker and CRT when AEC was applied and not applied. (p<0.05) When applied, the dose increased by 37% for Pacemaekr and 52% for CRT. Chemoport showed a 10% increase in effective dose depending on whether AEC was applied, but there was no significant difference. (p>0.05) In the image quality evaluation, there was no significant difference in image quality between all HIMD insertions and AEC applied or not. (p>0.05) Therefore, when the HIMD was inserted into the chest during a chest x ray and overlapped with the ion chamber sensor, the effective dose increased, and there was no difference in image quality even at a low dose without AEC. Therefore, when performing a chest X-ray examination of a patient with a HIMD inserted, it is considered that performing the examination without applying AEC is a method that can be considered to reduce the patient's radiation exposure.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.375-383
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• 2020

This study aimed to propose a methodology for quantitatively analyzing problems resulting from the performance and combination of the ionization chamber when using an automatic exposure control (AEC) and to optimize the performance of the digital radiography (DR). In the experimental method, the X-ray quality of the parameters used for the examination of the abdomen and pelvis was evaluated by percentage average error (PAE) and half value layer (HVL). Then, the stability of the radiation output and the image quality were analyzed by calculating the entrance surface dose (ESD) and entropy when the three ionization chambers were combined. As a result, all of the X-ray quality of the digital radiography used in the experiment showed a percentage average error and a half value layer in the normal range. The entrance surface dose increased in proportion to the combination of chambers, and entropy increased in proportion to the combination of ionization chambers except when three chambers were combined. In conclusion, analysis using entrance surface dose and entropy was found to be a useful method for evaluating the performance and combination problems of the ionization chamber, and the optimal performance of the digital radiography can be maintained when two or less ionization chambers are combined.