Quantum-limited-dose (QLD) and noise-equivalent-dose (NED) are performance metrics often used interchangeably.
Although the metrics are related, they are not equivalent unless the treatment of electronic noise is carefully
considered. These metrics are increasingly important to properly characterize the low-dose performance of flat panel
detectors (FPDs). A system can be said to be quantum-limited when the Signal-to-noise-ratio (SNR) is proportional to
the square-root of x-ray exposure. Recent experiments utilizing three methods to determine the quantum-limited dose
range yielded inconsistent results. To investigate the deviation in results, generalized analytical equations are
developed to model the image processing and analysis of each method. We test the generalized expression for both
radiographic and fluoroscopic detectors. The resulting analysis shows that total noise content of the images processed
by each method are inherently different based on their readout scheme. Finally, it will be shown that the NED is
equivalent to the instrumentation-noise-equivalent-exposure (INEE) and furthermore that the NED is derived from the
quantum-noise-only method of determining QLD. Future investigations will measure quantum-limited performance of
radiographic panels with a modified readout scheme to allow for noise improvements similar to measurements
performed with fluoroscopic detectors.
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