Sensitometric responses of selected medical radiographic films

Radiographic films produce different densities and contrast when processor changes occur, and the magnitude and rate of change vary with film type. The ability to detect and interpret the clinical importance of film density changes may depend on the method of sensitometry used. The characteristics of several medical radiographic films and various sensitometers were examined under three sensitometric variations and five processing variations. Of all variations used, only exposure with a single-versus a double-sided sensitometer caused a film type to have a marked different response. The results indicate that mismatching the sensitometer spectral output with the spectral sensitivity of the film in most cases does not affect the density changes of the film. The fact that a few films may be sensitive to differences in spectral content of the exposing light and dual- versus single-sided exposure and that only a limited number of film types were tested, however, leads to the prudent conclusion that the exposure conditions for quality control purposes should match clinical exposure conditions as closely as possible.