Evaluating the functionality of x-ray angiography systems based on DICOM structured reports

Area of Science:

• Medical Imaging Physics
• Radiology Informatics

Background:

• The DICOM Radiation Dose Structured Report (RDSR) standard facilitates the collection of detailed exposure data from medical imaging systems.
• Assessing the technical functionality of x-ray angiography (XA) systems is crucial for ensuring diagnostic image quality and patient safety.

Purpose of the Study:

• To determine the feasibility of evaluating XA system functionality using exposure data from DICOM RDSRs.
• To explore applications of RDSR data for system performance monitoring and characterization.

Main Methods:

• Utilized RDSR data from Philips Healthcare XA systems across various clinical suites (cardiology, radiology, neurology).
• Collected data over seven years using a DICOM server and custom parser to analyze irradiation events.
• Developed methods to evaluate XA system performance, including tube output, exposure geometry, and automatic control logic.

Main Results:

• Demonstrated feasibility of evaluating XA system functionality via RDSR data.
• Validated a method for assessing X-ray tube output, showing excellent agreement with conventional measurements and theoretical predictions.
• Established reference data for exposure geometry and beam quality across different angiography procedures.

Conclusions:

• Evaluating XA system technical functionality using RDSRs is feasible.
• Limitations in the current DICOM RDSR standard necessitate substantial clinical data for certain analyses.
• RDSR data offers a valuable resource for system performance monitoring and establishing procedural references.