Dynamic Digital Radiography: The Next Future of X-ray Imaging

Imaging with X-rays is a common way to find out about lung diseases, broken bones, and tumours without having to do any surgery. But regular X-ray pictures don’t show how body parts move over time; they only show how they look.

This limits the data that can be gathered from X-rays and could cause treatments to be missed or wrong.

Also read: How personalized medicine could be the next big thing in healthcare.

Digital Dynamic Radiography (DDR)

Digital dynamic radiography, or DDR, is a more advanced way to use X-rays to take pictures. It makes a number of separate digital pictures that are taken quickly and with little radiation. The cine loop that was made lets doctors see how anatomical parts move over time, which improves their ability to diagnose.

DDR can take up to 15 different radiographs per second, and you can view both the physiological cycle and individual radiographic images by playing them back as a cine loop.

How does DDR work?

Dynamic Digital Radiography or DDR uses X-ray sensitive plates to record data while an item is being looked at. The data is then sent directly to a computer, without the need for a cassette in between. Through a detector sensor, the X-ray radiation that hits the object is changed into an equal electric charge and then into a digital picture.

Flat panel detectors, which are also called digital detector arrays (DDAs), take better digital pictures than other imaging devices. They might have a better signal-to-noise ratio and a wider dynamic range, which makes them very sensitive for radiography uses.

The technical details on how DDR actually works are beyond this post and can be found: ERSJournals

What are some good things about DDR?

Dynamic Digital Radiography has a lot of benefits for the medical field, such as:

1. Fast exam: DDR gives doctors up to 20 seconds of physiological movement with a simple acquisition that can be done by imaging staff without a doctor being there in less than a minute.
2. Low-dose radiation: The amount of radiation used in DDR is less than in a normal fluoroscopy exam. This lowers the chance that the radiation will hurt the patient or staff.
3. Flexible and easy: The DDR system is convenient and flexible because it can take all normal X-rays while the patient is standing, sitting, or on a table. So, the patient can be put in positions that are more natural and easy for them, and the doctor can get a better idea of how their body is doing by looking at how they stand and sit in everyday life.
4. Better ability to see details: DDR has a wider dynamic range, which means it can handle more over- and under-exposure. It also lets you use special image processing techniques that make the picture look better overall. For instance, bone suppression gets rid of bones so that soft tissue can be seen. Frequency enhancement makes the edges of each structure stand out, and motion measurement checks how structures like diaphragms move.
5. Better diagnostic tools: DDR lets doctors see and identify lung function, heart function, joint motion, swallowing problems, and other changing processes that can’t be seen in still pictures​. If you have a pulmonary embolism, pulmonary hypertension, or diaphragm dysfunction, DDR can also help you find more minor problems.

What are some examples of Dynamic Digital Radiography or DDR cases?

Dynamic Digital Radiography has been used in a number of clinical situations to show that it can help with diagnosis and treatment. Some case studies that show the benefits of DDR are shown below:

1. A study from Kyushu University (Fukuoka, Japan) on pulmonary embolism found that DDR was just as good as lung ventilation/perfusion at identifying chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH), which is a problem that can happen after a pulmonary embolism. DDR showed where the blood flow and air were in the lungs and whether there were any thrombi in the pulmonary arteries. DDR was also better than lung ventilation/perfusion because it was less invasive, took less time, and cost less.
2. Diaphragm dysfunction: Researchers from the University of Manchester (Manchester, UK) and the University of Sheffield (Sheffield, UK) used DDR to check the movement of the diaphragm in a small group of people who were thought to have diaphragm dysfunction. DDR demonstrated the diaphragm’s range of motion, rate of extension, and unevenness at various stages of breathing. DDR also showed that there was paradoxical motion, which is a sign of a weak or paralysed diaphragm. It was discovered that DDR is a valid and dependable way to describe hemidiaphragm dysfunction.
3. A study from Konica Minolta (Tokyo, Japan) and Tokyo Medical University (Tokyo, Japan) looked at lung function in people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and asthma. They used DDR to do this. DDR showed the amount of air trapped and hyperinflation, as well as how the ventilation of the lungs was spread out across the body. DDR also showed how the lungs worked after a bronchodilator was given. DDR was found to be a useful way to test how well obstructive lung disease patients’ lungs work and how well their treatments are working.

Bottom Line

DDR is a new type of X-ray device that takes many digital pictures quickly and with little radiation. DDR lets doctors see how anatomical parts move and change over time, which helps them make better diagnoses.

DDR has many benefits over regular X-ray imaging, including faster exams, lower radiation doses, an easy-to-use and flexible system, a better ability to see details, and better diagnostic skills.

Different clinical settings have shown that DDR has the ability to help diagnose and treat a number of medical conditions, including pulmonary embolism, diaphragm dysfunction, and lung function.

DDR is a new tool that gives you more details and information than pictures alone.