System for digital acquisition of gastrointestinal images

Previous theoretical work and clinical experience with digital acquisition of fluoroscopic images have identified several problems which needed to be solved. These are: image resolution; blurring due to patient motion, combined with long exposure times; and excessive x-ray quantum mottle levels. We will show that application of pulsed progressive readout (PPR) methods to the TV camera solves these problems. By permitting a high-intensity x-ray pulse to be delivered, all motion is stopped and quantum mottle is reduced to acceptable levels. It will be shown that 1024 x 1024 digital matrices provide adequate resolution and 8-bit digitization is sufficient to permit the same quality as is used in conventional 100-mm photofluorography. User acceptance can be made easier by incorporation of existing photofluorographic controls (with which the radiologist is already familiar) to acquire the digital images. It is possible to interface PPR video systems using existing 100-mm exposure circuits without much modification and the resulting system can be regarded as a digital 100-mm camera.