Abstract
Objectives:This study applied a simple method to evaluate the performance of three digital devices (two scanners and one digital camera) using the reproducibility of pixel values attributed to the same radiographic image.Methods:Using the same capture parameters, a radiographic image was repeatedly digitized in order to determine the variability of pixel values given to the image throughout the digitization process. One coefficient value was obtained and was called pixel value reproducibility.Results:A significant difference in pixel values was observed among the three devices for the digitized images (ANOVA, p<0.00001). There was significant pixel value variability at the same digitization conditions for one scanner and the digital camera.Conclusions:Digital devices may assign pixel values differently in consecutive digitization depending on the optical density of the radiographic image and the equipment. The pixel value reproducibility was not satisfactory as tested for two devices. It is maybe advisable knowing the digitization variations regarding pixel values whenever using digital radiography images in longitudinal clinical examinations.
Highlights
The radiographic image is converted into pixel values during the digitization process, which is used by the computer to build the digital image[1,2,5,7]
The present study was based on the hypothesis that, using a simple method, it is possible to evaluate the digitization process in terms of the reproducibility of the pixel value given by a digital device in different captures
One of the major differences among the three devices was in terms of the illumination source, which, cannot be the same since each of the two scanners has its own light source and a light box was used for the digital camera
Summary
The radiographic image is converted into pixel values during the digitization process, which is used by the computer to build the digital image[1,2,5,7]. The digitization may suffer variations even when the same digital equipment is used throughout time. This aspect may be important once digital image is used in clinical evaluation of patients. The present study was based on the hypothesis that, using a simple method, it is possible to evaluate the digitization process in terms of the reproducibility of the pixel value given by a digital device in different captures. It is possible to evaluate if a device used to capture an image can be trusted in subsequent digitizations or in other words, if the equipment is given the same pixel value information continuously throughout the captures (reproducibility). The reproducibility of the pixel values may be important whenever using a quantitative image analysis in longitudinal clinical studies
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