Resident Physics Lectures

Christensen, Chapter 13
Viewing and
Recording
the
Fluoroscopic
Image
George David
Associate Professor
Department of Radiology
Medical College of Georgia
Fluoroscopic TV
Closed circuit TV
signal from camera to monitor
carried by electrical cables
Components
camera
camera control unit (may be
part of camera)
monitor (TV without tuner or
sound)
interconnecting cables
Image Tube - TV
Coupling
lens
fiber optic

TV
Camera
TV Monitor
TV Image
Composed of discrete horizontal
scan lines
# lines independent of monitor size
broadcast TV standard
525 lines
High definition
1025 lines
becoming more popular
more expensive
TV Camera
converts light to coded
electrical signal
Camera Tube
vidicon
cheapest / compact / laggy
plumbicon
enhanced vidicon / less lag
CCD
Semiconductor
not a tube
TV
Camera
Light
electrical
signal
Vidicon TV Pick-up Tube
Charge Coupled Device (CCD)
semiconductor device
not vacuum tube
stores charge in small discrete wells
transfers charge to readout device one line
at a time
no readout beam, focusing or deflection coils
shorter than vidicons
resolution limited by number of scan lines
(element array)
Monochrome Television Monitor
Another vacuum tube
electron beam scanned along fluorescent screen
Monochrome TV Monitor Elements
electron gun
control grid
controls beam intensity at each
location
anode
fluorescent screen
external focusing coil
external deflection coils
(steer electron beam)
CRT
Television Scanning
beam scanning for standard TV
525 lines in total image
30 images (frames) scanned per second
Oscillators
Vertical
Horizontal
Vertical
(Slower)
Horizontal
(Faster)
TV Interlacing
frame scanned in two passes, first the
odd lines then the even
One frame takes 1/30th second
avoids flicker
each pass called a field
takes 1/60th second

1st Field (Odd lines) 2nd Field (Even lines)
+
=
+ =
One Frame
1/60th sec. 1/60th sec. 1/30th sec.
Progressive Scanning
progressive scanning
used on newer systems, lines scanned in
order
no interlacing
Synchronization
TV Camera & Monitor must be
synchronized
beam at same place on image
special sync pulses sent at end of
each horizontal line & vertical field
retrace
horizontal retrace
beam returned to left side of screen
vertical retrace
beam returned to the top of screen
Turns off video during retrace
Vertical Retrace
Horizontal Retrace
Video Signal
Voltage level indicates brightness
Blanking during non-video
retrace
Vertical Resolution
proportional to # of vertical
scan lines
theoretic maximum
half # of visible scan lines
black lines alternate with white
max. line pairs = video lines / 2
Vertical Resolution
actual limit lower than theoretical
~ 10% of lines occur during retrace
returning beam from bottom to top of image
scan lines may not perfectly synchronize to
high resolution object
typically 525 lines yield ~185 line pairs
Vertical Retrace
Bandwidth (Bandpass)
Highest frequency that video
components are designed to
transmit or display
no sharp frequency cutoff
not all frequencies transmitted or displayed
with same quality
Gradual degrading
Bandwidth (Bandpass)
What it means for video
camera
how fast camera can turn electrical signal on & off
monitor
how rapid a change in incoming electrical signal
monitor can display
determines # of pairs which can be displayed
on one horizontal display line
horizontal resolution
Bandwidth
cycles per scan line = line pairs
per scan line
higher bandwidth = $$$
Bandwidth = [Horizontal Resolution] X [Video Lines] X [Frame Rate]
cycles
------------
scan line
lines
---------
frame
frames
---------
sec
cycles
----------
sec
=
X
X
Horizontal Resolution
Bandwidth = [Horizontal Resolution] X [Video Lines] X [Frame Rate]
cycles
------------
scan line
lines
---------
frame
frames
---------
sec
cycles
----------
sec
Bandwidth
[Horizontal Resolution] = -------------------------------------------
[Video Lines] X [Frame Rate]
=
X
X
Resolution Summary
Vertical resolution depends on
# of scan lines
Horizontal resolution depends on
bandwidth
# of scan lines
frame rate
Systems designed to yield approx.
equal horizontal & vertical resolution
~ 4.5 MHz typical bandwidth for 525 line system
higher bandwidth required for higher line rates
Fluoro Resolution On TV
Depends Upon
TV resolution
total lines
Frame rate
bandwidth
Size of imaged field
Overall TV Resolution
Example
typical 9 image tube
typical 185 line pairs for 525 line
TV system

185 line pairs 1 inch
------------------- X -------------- = .8 line pair / mm
9 inches 25.4 mm

Higher number is better
Conventional TV Systems
Fluoro Resolution
9 inch mode => 0.8 line pairs / mm
6 inch mode => 1.2 line pairs / mm
4 inch mode => 1.6 line pairs / mm

Conventional TV vs. Image tube
TV resolution generally poorer than image tube (3-5 line
pairs / mm typical for II)
to view image tube at full resolution requires
photographing output phosphor
photospot camera (100 mm, 105 mm)
cine camera
Overall System Contrast
vidicon reduces contrast by
about 20%
monitor enhances contrast by up
to 2X
adjustable by operator
brightness & contrast controls
Lag
Description
stickiness in image
apparent during tower motion in fluoro
not totally undesirable
smoothes quantum noise
Cause
time required for image to build up & decay on TV tube
target
Etc.
vidicons exhibit more lag
plumbicons display more quantum noise
More Lag = Less Quantum Noise
TV Gain
Output electrical signal amplitude
--------------------------------------------
light input amplitude
TV
Camera
Light
electrical
signal
LCD Displays
Backlight
Two polarizers oriented in opposite directions
If no liquid crystals or no voltage applied to
liquid crystals, no light passes through 2
nd

polarizer
***
LCD Displays
Individual
transistors control
light transmission
for each pixel
Voltage applied to
LCD causes it to
twist light
alters polarization to
orient with 2
nd
polarizer
Automatic Brightness Control
automatic variation of fluoro technique
based upon image brightness
Technique depends on absorber
Automatic Brightness Control
brightness sensing
photomultiplier tube sensing light from image tube
output phosphor
OR
intensity of electrical signal from TV camera
brightness signal sent to generator
Generator adjusts technique to
achieve desired brightness
Automatic Brightness Implementations
operator sets kVp / generator sets mA
operator sets mA / generator sets kVp
system sets both mA & kVp
system adjusts pulse width
only on some cath lab equipment (expensive)
Fluoro Recording
Spot film (obsolete?)
Record directly on x-ray film
Upside down radiograph
Light photography of II output
(obsolete?)
100, 105 mm photospot camera
cine
Record TV image
VCR
Digital
Spot Film
Upside-down radiograph
phototimed
delay before exposure
switch from fluoro to radiographic
mode
heat up filament
speed up rotor (sometimes)
move cassette into position
Cine
Viewed as motion picture
records light image from output
phosphor
selectable frame rate
7.5/ 15, 30,60,120 frames/second
requires secondary switching generator
rates greater than 30 f/sec. only used in pediatrics
patient exposure proportional to
frame rate
Recording TV Signal
VCR Magnetic Tape
Digital
VCR Magnetic Tape
VHS or SVHS
limited tape shelf life (2 years)
long access times
limited bandwidth