Study of the separate exposure method for bootstrap sensitometry on X-ray cine film

We developed a new method for bootstrap sensitometry that obtained the characteristic curve from a wide range, with a smaller number of aluminum steps than the conventional bootstrap method. In this method, the density-density curve was obtained from standard and multiplied exposures to the aluminum step wedge and used for bootstrap manipulation. The curve was acquired from two regions separated and added together, e.g., lower and higher photographic density regions. In this study, we evaluated the usefulness of a new cinefluorography method in comparison with N.D. filter sensitometry. The shape of the characteristic curve and the gradient curve obtained with the new method were highly similar to that obtained with N.D. filter sensitometry. Also, the average gradient obtained with the new bootstrap sensitometry method was not significantly different from that obtained by the N.D. filter method. The study revealed that the reliability of the characteristic curve was improved by increasing the measured value used to calculate the density-density curve. This new method was useful for obtaining a characteristic curve with a sufficient density range, and the results suggested that this new method could be applied to specific systems to which the conventional bootstrap method is not applicable. (author)