Influence of quantum noise on radiological images

The fundamental limits to the spatial resolution and to the contrast attainable in radiological images are owing to the quantum nature ox X-radiation. Small low-contrast details in anatomic structures may be revealed only by increasing the fluence of photons absorbed by those structures, an acceptable procedure in industrial applications but which incurs a proportional risk to the patient in clinical applications of X-rays. An analytical procedure to find the optimal compromise between the diagnostic conditions of high patient absorbance is developed, for which few photons remains to carry information to the detectors, and low patient absorbance, for which the quantum fluctuations in the large number of photons reaching the detectors obscure the information. (author)