Analysis of the deterioration of photostimulable phosphor plates

Objectives:

To assess, objectively to determine the deterioration of the photostimulable phosphor plates (PSPs) after several acquisitions.

Methods:

Two new PSPs without preliminary use were exposed with an intraoral X-ray unit, and the EXPRESS® (Instrumentarium Imaging, Tuusula, Finland) unit was used for scanning of the PSPs. A 12-stepwedge aluminum scale were used superimposed with the PSPs during the X-rays exposures to perform the objective analyses. Objective analysis was carried out by mean gray values using the Image J software through a region of interest (ROI) of 0.1 × 0.1 mm, and the data were analyzed statistically using ANOVA.

Results:

For each, the Express® PSP a total of 1800 images were acquired during 60 days. The objective analysis showed loss of the mean gray values between the initial and final images. Besides, the percentage of mean gray values’ loss was between 0.7%, for the thickest step, and 8.4%, for the lowest thickness step.

Conclusion:

After many X-ray exposures of the Express® PSP a singular deterioration in the mean gray values could be observed.