Study of positioning techniques for radiography

A good positioning technique is of great importance in radiology in order to obtain accurate diagnostic information and reduce the patient's X-ray exposure. In positioning training, students place the phantom on the table under an X-ray tube, adjust the position of the phantom, and repeat the positioning practices until they can obtain fine diagnostic images. As X-ray films are usually used in radiography, the development of such films is necessary. In this kind of training practice, it takes a great deal of time to obtain the X-ray image at the phantom position. It is desirable for students to perform positioning accurately and to confirm the results of positioning within a short time. In this article, we propose a new positioning training method using digital image processing. First, we scan the skull phantom by CT (computed tomography) and obtain CT images. Next, we measure the positioning information of the phantom under the X-ray equipment by using scene analysis. Then, we develop a method that produces the plane image corresponding to the detected phantom position under the X-ray tube. It is expected that our method will be useful as a teaching device to help in the practice of the positioning techniques for various organs without X-ray exposure and, furthermore, in the development of X-ray films.