Determining The Detective Quantum Efficiency (DQE) Of X-Ray Detectors In Clinical Environments

According to Health Canada, dental and medical radiography accounts for more than 90% of total man-made radiation dose to the general population. Ensuring patients receive the health benefits of diagnostic x-ray imaging without use of higher radiation exposures requires knowledge and understanding of the detective quantum efficiency (DQE). Currently, the DQE is not measured in clinics because it requires specialized instrumentation and specific DQE-expertise to perform an accurate analysis. In this regard, the goals of this thesis were to: 1) address the limitations of measuring the DQE in clinical environments that affects the accuracy of the measurement; 2) develop and validate an automated method of measuring the DQE that is compliant with current regulatory standards to relieve experimental burden on the end-user. It is shown that the DQE can be measured with confidence using the automated method despite the limitations present in clinical environments. This work provides the opportunity for the clinical end-user who may not be familiar with the DQE-measurement process to accurately measure the DQE of clinical x-ray detectors, and provides the opportunity for the DQE to be a primary metric for quality assurance and control practices in the clinical environment