Research, Development and Evaluation of Minimally Invasive Systems for Detection and Quantification of Atherosclerotic Lesions in Coronary Arteries in Humans. Second Comprehensive Annual Report

摘要

The report describes 13 months of research, development, and evaluation of an advanced dual x-ray beam technique for diode array digital radiography designed to achieve minimally invasive detection and quantification of atherosclerotic lesions in the coronary artery. The improved and novel system currently being developed uses a dual focal spot x-ray source on a single anode to produce two electrical charge images in two sets of self-scanning linear diode arrays that are fiberoptically coupled to parallel narrow strips of phosphor screen. The output of the arrays is then digitally stored, processed, and displayed over a high bandwidth television monitor. During these 13 months, the system has been built and installed in a diagnostic x-ray room in our radiology department. It is now undergoing phantom and test pattern studies to enable us to optimize its performance for visualizing the coronary arteries following a minimally invasive intravenous injection.