CLINICAL-APPLICATION OF SINGLE DUAL-ENERGY SUBTRACTION TECHNIQUE WITH DIGITAL STORAGE-PHOSPHOR RADIOGRAPHY

We used a single-exposure dual-energy subtraction technique with a storage-phosphor computed radiography (CR) system to evaluate various pulmonary diseases. Clinical applications of this method have been studies at our institution. In our experience, the dual-energy subtraction technique provided better visualization of pulmonary nodules, tracheobronchial abnormalities, pulmonary vascular diseases, calcification in a nodule, and rib lesions than conventional CR images did. Single exposure dual-energy subtraction images were obtained with a sandwich technique using two storage-phosphor imaging plates with a l-mm thick copper filter interleaved between the two. The front plate obtains a lower kilovoltage image, whereas the back plate obtains a higher kilovoltage image. We can visualize soft tissue and bone images as well as unsubtracted digital images by the subtraction process. Copyright (C) 1995 by W.B. Saunders Company