Optimal display of the coronary arterial tree with an upscan 1,023-line video display system

The AAPM/RSNA physics tutorial for residents: fluoroscopy: optical coupling and the video system

In fluoroscopic/fluorographic systems, an image intensifier is optically coupled to recording cameras. The optical distributor is responsible for transmitting a focused image from the output phosphor of the image intensifier to the focal planes of the cameras. Each camera has an aperture, which is used to control the level of light reaching its focal plane. The aperture setting determines the patient x-ray exposure level and the image noise level. Increasing the x-ray exposure reduces image noise; reducing the x-ray exposure increases image noise. Fluoroscopic/fluorographic systems always include a video camera. The functions of the video system are to provide for multiple observers and to facilitate image recording. The camera head contains an image sensor, which converts the light image from the image intensifier into a voltage signal. The device used to generate the video signal is a pickup tube or a charge-coupled device sensor. The method used is raster scanning, of which there are two types: progressive and interlaced. The vertical resolution of the system is primarily determined by the number of scan lines; the horizontal resolution is primarily determined by the bandwidth. Frame rate reduction can be a powerful tool for exposure reduction.

Limitations of coronary angiography: an underestimated problem?

Angiographic imaging suffers from many limitations which may distort the diagnostic information obtained from coronary arteriograms. Radiographic features limiting precise coronary stenosis measurement are caused by the x-ray source, the image intensifier, and the chemical properties of the cinefilm. Biologic variations are introduced by fluctuations in angiographic contrast concentration and flow- or contrast-dependent coronary dilation. Random errors are also introduced by the selection of the radiographic projection and frame to be analyzed and the digitization of cineangiograms. These limitations and their significance in distorting quantitative information obtained from coronary angiograms are discussed in this review.

Isn't it time to abandon cine film?

Cine has served our needs well since the early 1950s. For the first time, it allowed recording of motion studies of the cardiac structures on film. The cine technique has been standardized over the years, both the camera and the display. Cine filming techniques, however, have not advanced, except for new film products with faster emulsions and better-quality films. Video electronic imaging has made rapid advancements. These were prompted by the broadcast industry when the requirements for color were developed in the 1960s and by the advent of new recording techniques that provided a very stable video time base from analog tape recorders. The medical field has been able to capitalize on these developments and to produce some of our own that have not been applied in the broadcast world. These include pulsed progressive 525-line video acquisition of cardiac images in the cardiac catheterization laboratory. We also have been able to capitalize on the improved detector technology that the broadcast world has developed, such as the plumbicon pickup tubes, which produce images with very little lag and so provide images with improved resolution. These developments also have enabled us to reduce radiation to both the patient and the laboratory personnel, especially with implementation of the pulsed progressive acquisition, with which the dose has been reduced 50%. With the advent of interventional procedures in the cardiac catheterization laboratory, the need to assess images immediately cannot be fulfilled by cine filming because of the requirement for the processing of the film with its inherent delays. Quantification of cardiac structures is required to assess the outcome of interventional techniques.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)