A three-contrast, metal test pattern (Snellen E-plate) in evaluation of imaging techniques in clinical chest radiography.

A metal test pattern based on a minified Snellen-type E-plate was evaluated in testing six imaging techniques for chest radiography. The device consisted of three contrast zones and it was attached to the patient's back over the right lung during chest radiography. The values for visual detectability of the E-figures were compared with the film scores obtained by grading the radiographs with respect to visibility of diagnostically important anatomic details. The test plate proved to be a simple, quick and reproducible tool for testing several imaging techniques at the same time. The E-plate results were similar to those of the visual grading analysis in most respects. A few discrepancies existed, which were probably due to the inability of the test pattern to fully consider the effect of motion unsharpness and varying scattering conditions within the human thorax, as well as to great differences in roentgen ray absorption properties between Au and tissues.