Investigation of basic imaging properties in digital radiography. 11. Multiple slit-beam imaging technique with image...

We are developing a digital x-ray imaging system using a multiple slit assembly (MSA) and an image intensifier (II)-TV digital system. The advantage of this approach is that the scatter from an object and the veiling glare in the II-TV system can be reduced significantly while the x-ray utilization is maintained much better than that with a single slit-beam technique. The quality of reconstructed images is related to many parameters such as the slit width, the lead spacer, the number of image frames, and the reconstruction algorithm. In this study, reduction of scatter and veiling glare was measured quantitatively, and image artifacts were analyzed. It was found that the fraction of scatter and veiling glare can be reduced to approximately 0.01-0.1 by use of the MSA imaging technique, and that the magnitude of the fractions is strongly dependent upon the slit width and the lead spacer of the MSA used. The artifacts are caused by inaccuracies in the slit width, lead spacer, and scan motion, and by undersampling of image data. The overlap scanning technique was effective in reducing the magnitude of these artifacts in the reconstructed image.