Peer Review Tool for General Radiography Technologists Improves Image Quality.

Purpose: Quality improvement is vital to ensure health-care providers meet optimal patient care standards. Within our jurisdiction, accreditation requires image peer review as part of the quality assurance program. We propose a method to improve quality assurance in radiography by implementing a novel software-based peer review system for radiography technologists.

A Radiographic Diagnostic Reference Level Survey Using Patient and Phantom Data.

A diagnostic reference level (DRL) survey was conducted for seven common radiographic projections across an integrated health region, covering 27 hospitals and clinics. The projections surveyed were Chest Posterior-Anterior (PA) and Lateral, Abdomen Supine and Upright, L-spine Anterior-Posterior (AP) and Lateral, and Pelvis. Dose area product (DAP) values were collected from patient examinations in 43 digital radiography (DR) rooms and in 18 conventional rooms which use computed radiography (CR).

Scanner and kVp dependence of measured CT numbers in the ACR CT phantom.

Quality control testing of CT scanners in our region includes a measurement of CT numbers in the American College of Radiology (ACR) CT phantom using a standardized protocol. CT number values are clinically relevant in determining the composition of various tissues in the body. Accuracy is important in the characterization of tumors, assessment of coronary calcium, and identification of urinary stone composition.

Quantification of in vivo implant wear in total knee replacement from dynamic single plane radiography.

An in vivo method to measure wear in total knee replacements was developed using dynamic single-plane fluoroscopy. A dynamic, anthropomorphic total knee replacement phantom with interchangeable, custom-fabricated components of known wear volume was created, and dynamic imaging was performed. For each frame of the fluoroscopy data, the relative location of the femoral and tibial components were determined, and the apparent intersection of the femoral component with the tibial insert was used to calculate wear volume, wear depth, and frequency of intersection.

Measurement of joint kinematics using a conventional clinical single-perspective flat-panel radiography system.

Purpose: The ability to accurately measure joint kinematics is an important tool in studying both normal joint function and pathologies associated with injury and disease. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the efficacy, accuracy, precision, and clinical safety of measuring 3D joint motion using a conventional flat-panel radiography system prior to its application in an in vivo study.

Methods: An automated, image-based tracking algorithm was implemented to measure the three-dimensional pose of a sparse object from a two-dimensional radiographic projection.

US-fluoroscopy registration for transcatheter aortic valve implantation.

Transcatheter aortic valve implantation is a minimally invasive alternative to open-heart surgery for aortic stenosis in which a stent-based bioprosthetic valve is delivered into the heart on a catheter. Limited visualization during this procedure can lead to severe complications. Improved visualization can be provided by live registration of transesophageal echo (TEE) and fluoroscopy images intraoperatively.