Development and application of programs to measure modulation transfer function, noise power spectrum and detective quantum efficiency

This project aimed to produce programs to calculate the modulation transfer function (MTF), noise power spectrum (NPS) and detective quantum efficiency (DQE) of digital X-ray systems, given a suitable digital image. The MTF was calculated using the edge technique and the NPS was calculated from a flat field image. Both programs require a suitably edited DICOM image as input. The DQE was then calculated from the output of MTF and NPS programs. This required data external to the DQE program to estimate the number of quanta per mm2 in the beam which formed the NPS image. All three programs run independent of each other on a PC and require no special software to be installed. Results for MTF, NPS and DQE for a Philips AC3 CR system are presented. In addition, the results for MTF from a Siemens Duo CT scanner with a specially designed PTFE edge are also shown. (authors)