Impact of Exposure Settings Variations on Contrast and Spatial Resolution in CMOS and Direct-Conversion CMOS...

Area of Science:

• Dental Radiology
• Medical Imaging Technology
• Image Quality Assessment

Background:

• Intraoral sensors are crucial for dental diagnostics.
• Optimizing exposure settings is key to achieving high-quality diagnostic images.
• Understanding how different sensor technologies and exposure parameters affect image quality is essential for clinical practice.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the impact of exposure setting variations on contrast and spatial resolution (SR) in complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) and direct-conversion CMOS (DC-CMOS) intraoral sensors.
• To compare the performance of different intraoral sensor types under varying X-ray exposure conditions.

Main Methods:

• Ten images of a Digital Dental Quality Assessment (DDQA) phantom were acquired using three sensors (CMOS-I, CMOS-S, DC-CMOS) and two X-ray units (handheld and wall-mounted).
• Exposure parameters including kilovoltage peak (kVp), milliamperes (mA), and time were systematically varied.
• Image contrast and spatial resolution (SR) were quantified using standardized analysis methods.

Main Results:

• CMOS-I sensors demonstrated the highest mean contrast, followed by DC-CMOS and CMOS-S sensors (p < 0.001).
• Handheld X-ray units produced significantly higher mean contrast compared to wall-mounted units (p < 0.001).
• CMOS-S sensors achieved the highest SR, whereas DC-CMOS sensors showed the lowest SR, which remained consistent across exposure times.

Conclusions:

• Sensor type, X-ray unit, and exposure time are significant factors influencing image contrast and spatial resolution.
• Variations in kilovoltage peak (kVp) settings had a minimal effect on the evaluated image quality parameters.
• These findings provide valuable insights for optimizing intraoral radiography protocols to enhance diagnostic accuracy.