Radiation dose reduction in the evaluation of scoliosis: an application of digital radiography.

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Abstract
This report documents the clinical testing of scanning beam digital radiography as an imaging method in patients with scoliosis. This type of digital imaging requires a skin exposure of only 2.4 mR (0.619 .mu.C/kg) per image, compared with the lowest possible posteroanterior screen-film exposure of 10 mR (2.58 .mu.C/kg) at the chest and 60 mR (15.48 .mu.C/kg) at the lumbar spine. Digital radiographic and screen-film images were obtained on multiple test objects and 273 patients. Scoliosis measurements using screen-film radiographs and digital radiographs were comparable to within a mean difference of 1.degree. at many different degrees of severity. The low-dose digital images were found to be useful and accurate for the detection and measurement of scoliosis after the first screen-film radiographs have excluded tumors and structural abnormalities.