ADAPTING THE CDRH ABDOMINAL PHANTOM FOR DOSE-IMAGE QUALITY OPTIMISATION IN ABDOMINAL RADIOGRAPHY

Background: Medical X-ray phantoms are used to simulate patient anatomy for the assessment of radiation dose and image quality. While the Centre for Devices and Radiological Health (CDRH) has designed phantoms for chest studies, an abdominal phantom suitable for image quality evaluation has not been reported. Purpose: To evaluate the performance of a CDRH abdominal phantom in conventional radiography of the abdomen and establish its equivalence to clinical patient images for quality control purposes. Materials and Methods: The abdominal phantom was exposed under standard radiographic conditions, and results were compared with clinical abdominal radiographs. Beam transmission (BT) and optical density (OD) were measured, and statistical comparisons were made to assess equivalence. Results: The phantom showed a beam transmission difference of 21.2% (r = 0.3; p > 0.05) and an optical density of 1.62 compared to 1.65 in patient abdominal films (p = 0.54). Despite some variations and poor linearity with patient data, the phantom met optical density requirements, and it was portable, adjustable, and easy to assemble. Conclusion: The CDRH abdominal phantom can be effectively used in image quality studies in diagnostic radiology, providing a practical tool for quality control in the absence of patient exposure.