Table 1 Results of the reader study examining the dark-field images.

From: Correlation of image quality parameters with tube voltage in X-ray dark-field chest radiography: a phantom study

 

Lung signal

Bone overlay

Image quality

Sharpness

50 kVp

6.0 (5.8–6.0)

6.0 (4.8–6.0)

5.5 (4.5–6.0)

5.5 (2.0–6.0)

60 kVp

5.0 (5.0–5.3)

5.5 (4.8–6.0)

5.0 (4.5–6.0)

5.5 (2.0–5.5)

70 kVp

4.8 (4.3–5.0)

5.5 (4.0–5.5)

6.0 (5.0–6.0)

5.5 (4.0–6.0)

80 kVp

3.7 (3.3–4.8)

5.0 (4.0–5.0)

6.0 (5.0–6.0)

5.0 (4.0–6.0)

90 kVp

3.3 (2.7–4.0)

4.0 (3.5–4.5)

5.5 (5.0–6.0)

5.0 (3.0–6.0)

100 kVp

3.3 (2.7–4.0)

3.2 (3.0–4.5)

5.0 (4.0–5.5)

5.0 (3.0–5.0)

110 kVp

2.7 (2.3–3.8)

3.0 (2.3–4.0)

5.0 (4.0–5.0)

4.5 (3.0–5.0)

120 kVp

2.3 (1.7–3.8)

3.0 (2.3–4.0)

5.0 (3.0–5.0)

4.5 (3.0–5.0)

125 kVp

1.7 (1.2–3.5)

2.5 (2.3–4.0)

5.0 (3.0–5.0)

4.5 (3.0–5.0)

  1. All values are given in median (range) of the three readers after calculation the mean of their readings. The highest mean for both image quality and sharpness was found for 70 kVp. The lowest bone overlay (i.e. the highest dark-field signal despite the opacity) was found for the lowest tube voltages, going along with the very high dark-field signal strength at these voltages.
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