Estimation of the diameter of and iodine concentration within blood vessels using digital radiography devices

A variety of digital radiographic and fluoroscopic devices have been developed which can isolate small concentrations of iodine within the cardiovascular system. Using these devices, time dependent subtraction images have been formed which only display opacified vasculature. Theory is presented and simple methods have been developed for determining vessel diameters and iodine concentration from such subtraction images. The methods have been verified using plexiglass and aluminum vessel phantoms imaged with a computerized radiography device. Using this device the diameter of a 5 mm diameter vessel could be determined to within 6% (0.28 mm) even though the pixel width in the digitized image corresponded to 1.34 mm. In the same vessel, it is estimated that an iodine concentration of 46 mg/cm3 could be determined with 10% accuracy.