Performance of the K-edge digital subtraction angiography imaging system at the European synchrotron radiation facility

In this work we have characterised the K-edge digital subtraction angiography imaging system at the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF, Grenoble (France)). With this technique, after the minimally invasive intravenous injection of a contrast agent (iodine), two images are recorded simultaneously using monochromatic beams with energies bracketing the iodine K-edge. The image receptor consists of a two-line 432-pixel germanium detector. The logarithmic subtraction of the image set produced results in an iodine-enhanced image, where vessels are clearly visualised and contrast agent concentration can be precisely quantified. We have studied the imaging system in terms of the modulation transfer function, which was measured at the patient position, the 2-D normalised noise power spectrum, calculated for both raw and processed data, and the frequency-dependent detective quantum efficiency, which was calculated directly for final images. In addition, images of cylindrical phantoms with different concentrations of iodine, were also acquired. (authors)