4. Conclusion

This article takes stock of topics at the forefront of medical X-ray imaging research: the quality factor of a medical image and two techniques that are expected to generate a quantum leap in image quality by the 2020s: spectroscopic imaging and phase contrast.

The construction of an image quality factor requires both an extension of the DQE concept to the complete radiology system (taking into account scatter, source focal spot size and image processing), and a modeling of the pathology sought and the radiologist's cerebral decision-making process. This is a subject that has mobilized research teams since the 1980s, and for which a consensus is emerging around a detectivity index. This index is not yet used in industry, but is increasingly used by university research teams to qualify a new radiology technology (detector, 3D reconstruction algorithm, etc.). It is...