X-ray dose reduction by adaptive source equalization and electronic region-of interest control

Radiation dose is particularly a concern in pediatric cardiac fluoroscopy procedures, which account for 7% of all cardiac procedures performed. The Scanning-Beam Digital X-ray (SBDX) fluoroscopy system has already demonstrated reduced dose in adult patients owing to its high-DQE photon-counting detector, reduced detected scatter, and the elimination of the anti-scatter grid. Here we show that the unique flexible illumination platform of the SBDX system will enable further dose area product reduction, which we are currently developing for pediatric patients, but which will ultimately benefit all patients. The SBDX system has a small-area detector array and a large-area X-ray source with up to 9,000 individually-controlled X-ray focal spots. Each focal spot illuminates a small fraction of the full field of view. To acquire a frame, each focal spot is activated for a fixed number of 1-microsecond periods. Dose reduction is made possible by reducing the number of activations of some of the X-ray focal spots during each frame time. This can be done dynamically to reduce the exposure in areas of low patient attenuation, such as the lung field. This spatially-adaptive illumination also reduces the dynamic range in the full image, which is visually pleasing. Dose can also be reduced by the user selecting a region of interest (ROI) where full image quality is to be maintained. Outside the ROI, the number of activations of each X-ray focal spot is reduced and the image gain is correspondingly increased to maintain consistent image brightness. Dose reduction is dependent on the size of the ROI and the desired image quality outside the ROI. We have developed simulation software that is based on real data and can simulate the performance of the equalization and ROI filtration. This software represents a first step toward real-time implementation of these dose-reduction methods. Our simulations have shown that dose area product reductions of 40% are possible using equalization, and dose savings as high as 74% are possible with the ROI approach. The dose reduction achieved in clinical use will depend on patient anatomy.