Digital radiography today--state of the art

Following on from the introduction of Digital Subtraction Angiography at the beginning of the 80's and the positive experience gained worldwide since then, there has been an increasing interest in Digital Radiography. The reasons for this interest are complex and not just confined to considerations regarding image quality but include clinical and administrative advantages. The acceptance of DR systems, however, depends in the first instance on image quality and this can only be determined in clinical trials with ROC analysis. From results published so far it is clear that the digital matrix size is not so critical as was thought at first because of the increased contrast depth available. This article will briefly describe the alternative methods available today for generating digital radiographs with a short explanation of the technology involved and concomitant benefits. The differences between On-line and Off-line systems and their influence on examination practice will be explained before describing DR systems available. The subject of PACS (Picture Archiving and Communication Systems) will be briefly mentioned.