[Digital radiology using the DIGORA registration technic]

Improvements in computer technology have brought about great changes in the manner in which X-ray diagnostics can be carried out. Both the registering and analysis of X-ray images can now be facilitated by the use of computer apparatus. The registering of X-ray images can be carried out with an X-ray sensitive sensor (CCD-sensor), which is inserted in the mouth and is linked to the computer by a thin cable. Another technique is based upon the use of storage phosphor plates. These are made of a material that can hold the latent X-ray image for some time after radiation and can be read by stimulation with laser light. The advantages of this method are that there is much similarity with the way in which X-ray photographs are registered on X-ray film and that the sensor is not connected to a cable. This latter quality allows one more freedom of movement in relation to the computer apparatus in the place were the X-ray photos are taken. Storage phosphor plates are less suitable than CCD systems for very precise quantitative measurement of X-ray photos. For diagnostic purposes, however, their picture quality is in no way inferior to that of CCD systems and of film-based X-ray techniques.