Ideal Radiograph: DR Sangeeta Malik Reader Oral Medicine and Radiology

IDEAL RADIOGRAPH
Dr Sangeeta Malik
Reader
Oral Medicine and Radiology
Dr. Sangeeta Malik, Subharti Dental College, SVSU

An ideal radiograph
• ‘An ideal radiograph is one which has the
desired density and overall degree of darkness
and which shows the part completely without
distortion and with maximum details and has
the right amount of contrast to make the
details fully apparent.’
-H.M. Worth

Imaging characteristics of x-ray film
• Radiographic density
• Radiographic contrast
• Radiographic speed
• Film Latitude
• Radiographic noise
• Radiographic blurring
• Image quality

Radiographic Density
• The overall degree of darkening of an exposed
film is referred to as radiographic density.
• Measured as optical density of an area of the

radiograph
optical density=Log10 Io
It

Characteristic curve
• Also known as H&D (Hurter and Driffield)

curve.
• It is a plot of the relationship between film

optical density and exposure.

• Gross fog or base plus fog.
• Optical density-0.2-0.3

Radiographic density is influenced by-
• Exposure
• Subject thickness
• Subject density

Exposure-
• film density is increased by-
• ing- mA, Kvp, exposure time
• ing the distance between the focal spot and film

• Subject thickness
Thicker the subject more beam attenuated
Exposure factors to be varied according to the size of

the patient.

• Subject Density
• Greater the density of an object within the subject

greater the attenuation
• Oral cavity-enamel, dentin and cementum, bone,

muscle, fat and air.

Beam
differentially attenuated by these absorbers
resultant beam
recorded as light and dark areas on film

Radiographic contrast
• It is described as the range of densities on a
radiograph
• It is defined as the difference in densities

between light and dark regions on a radiograph.
• High contrast –short grey scale of contrast
• Low contrast-long grey scale of contrast

Radiographic contrast of an image is
an interplay of -
• Subject contrast
• Film contrast
• Scattered radiation

• Subject contrast- is the range of characteristics
of the subject that influence the radiographic
contrast.
• Influenced by- subject thickness

subject density
atomic number

• Also influenced by-
• Beam energy and intensity
• time and mA of the exposure

Film contrast-
describes the capacity of radiographic films to display

differences in subject contrast , that is, variation in
the intensity of the remnant beam
- high contrast and low contrast films-high contrast

films reveals areas of small differences in subject
contrast more clearly.
-Film processing
-improper handling
-film fog

• Scattered radiation
Travel in direction other than primary beam.
Causes fogging or overall darkening of the image that results in

loss of radiographic contrast.
Can be avoided by-

• Using low Kvp
• Collimate the beam
• Grids in extraoral radiography

Radiographic speed
• It refers to the amount of radiation required to
produce an image of a standard density.
• Film speed is expressed as the reciprocal of

the exposure (in roentgen)required to
produce an optical density of 1 above gross
fog.

• Fast films –needs lower exposure than slow
films to produce a density of 1.
• Film speed controlled by silver halide grain

size and their silver content
• Ultra-speed film-group D
• Kodak insight-group E and F

Film Latitude
• It is the range of exposures that can be

recorded as distinguishable densities on a
film.
• Film with wide latitude records wide range of

subject contrast.


Radiographic noise
• It is the appearance of uneven density of a

uniformly exposed radiographic film.
• Causes-Radiographic mottle
Radiographic artifact

• Radiographic mottle-
• Uneven density resulting from the physical
structure of the film or intensifying screen.
Two important causes-
• Quantum mottle-czed by fluctuation in the no. of photons per unit

of the beam cross-sectional area absorbed by the intensifying
screen.
• Screen structure mottle-czed by screen phosphors.

(Fast screens-large crystals used)

Radiographic Blurring
• Sharpness
• Resolution
line –pairs per mm

Line-pairs

Radiographic blurring is caused by-
• Image receptor blurring
• Motion blurring
• Geometric blurring

Image receptor blurring
• Intra-oral films-grain size

• Intensifying screens
• Double emulsion film

• Motion blurring-
film
Subject
X-ray source
• Geometric blurring

Image Quality
• It describes the subjective judgement by the overall
appearance of the radiograph. It combines the features of
density,contrast,latitude ,sharpness,resolution and other
parameters.
• The Detective quantum efficiency(DQE) is a basic measure of

the efficiency of an imaging system.It encompasses image
contrast ,blur,speed and noise

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IDEAL RADIOGRAPH

Dr. Sangeeta Malik, Subharti Dental College, SVSU

Dr. Sangeeta Malik, Subharti Dental College, SVSU

Dr. Sangeeta Malik, Subharti Dental College, SVSU

• Measured as optical density of an area of the

Dr. Sangeeta Malik, Subharti Dental College, SVSU

• Also known as H&D (Hurter and Driffield)

• It is a plot of the relationship between film

Dr. Sangeeta Malik, Subharti Dental College, SVSU

Dr. Sangeeta Malik, Subharti Dental College, SVSU

Dr. Sangeeta Malik, Subharti Dental College, SVSU

• ing- mA, Kvp, exposure time

• ing the distance between the focal spot and film

Dr. Sangeeta Malik, Subharti Dental College, SVSU

Thicker the subject more beam attenuated

Exposure factors to be varied according to the size of

Dr. Sangeeta Malik, Subharti Dental College, SVSU

• Greater the density of an object within the subject

• Oral cavity-enamel, dentin and cementum, bone,

Dr. Sangeeta Malik, Subharti Dental College, SVSU

differentially attenuated by these absorbers

recorded as light and dark areas on film

• It is defined as the difference in densities

• High contrast –short grey scale of contrast

• Low contrast-long grey scale of contrast

Dr. Sangeeta Malik, Subharti Dental College, SVSU

Dr. Sangeeta Malik, Subharti Dental College, SVSU

• Influenced by- subject thickness

Dr. Sangeeta Malik, Subharti Dental College, SVSU

• Beam energy and intensity

• time and mA of the exposure

Dr. Sangeeta Malik, Subharti Dental College, SVSU

describes the capacity of radiographic films to display

- high contrast and low contrast films-high contrast

Dr. Sangeeta Malik, Subharti Dental College, SVSU

Causes fogging or overall darkening of the image that results in

Can be avoided by-

Dr. Sangeeta Malik, Subharti Dental College, SVSU

• Film speed is expressed as the reciprocal of

Dr. Sangeeta Malik, Subharti Dental College, SVSU

• Film speed controlled by silver halide grain

Dr. Sangeeta Malik, Subharti Dental College, SVSU

• It is the range of exposures that can be

• Film with wide latitude records wide range of

Dr. Sangeeta Malik, Subharti Dental College, SVSU

Dr. Sangeeta Malik, Subharti Dental College, SVSU

• It is the appearance of uneven density of a

Dr. Sangeeta Malik, Subharti Dental College, SVSU

Two important causes-

• Quantum mottle-czed by fluctuation in the no. of photons per unit

• Screen structure mottle-czed by screen phosphors.

Dr. Sangeeta Malik, Subharti Dental College, SVSU

Dr. Sangeeta Malik, Subharti Dental College, SVSU

Dr. Sangeeta Malik, Subharti Dental College, SVSU

• Image receptor blurring

Dr. Sangeeta Malik, Subharti Dental College, SVSU

• Intra-oral films-grain size

Dr. Sangeeta Malik, Subharti Dental College, SVSU