A Study on Patient Gown in Digital Radiography Examination

Background/Objectives: The image quality was degraded due to the image noise in accordance with the performance improvement of diagnostic DR system. This study aims to present and recommend the effect on an image when hospitalized patients undergo the examination without wearing an examination gown in the chest PA test using radiography. Methods/Statistical Analysis: The experiment in this study was conducted by using the DR system of DK Company. In regard to the comparison experiment between the patient gown and the examination gown, Thorax Phantom was utilized. The Phantom specification is RS-111. The image was obtained by utilizing AEC by varying the dose (mAs) and tube voltage (kVp) while putting both the patient gown and the examination gown on the phantom. Then, the gray value of the obtained image was measured based on the 7 points that were to measure the density at the Japan Anti-Tuberculosis Association through the Image J program. Findings: In the case of descriptive statistics, it was found that there was only a small number of the factors that inhibited the quality of an image because the examination gown was closer to the mean value of phantom than the patient gown on the basis of the phantom. As for the analysis in relation to the measurement area, there was a significant difference at the 2 point spot and the 7 point spot in relation to the patient gown and examination gown of phantom in accordance with the tube voltage. As for the correlation analysis, there was a significant difference between the phantom, the patient gown and the examination gown. Hence, there was a relationship between these three groups. The most influencing factor of the DR development is the patient gown or the examination gown. Application/Improvements: It is believed that it would be possible to enhance the quality of an image by conducting an examination with the examination gown and comparing it with the patient gown in the radiography lab.