NORMI PAS Set 1054 is used to test specific values of digital mammographic X-ray installations. The modularly composed phantom includes a basic phantom, a structure plate, three PMMA absorbers and up to five different test elements for insertion into the structure plate:

• Test element PMMA for testing the average gray value
• Test element ACR with micro-calcifications and fibrils
• Test element HK for testing the high contrast
• Test element KRV for testing the signal-to-noise-ratio
• Optional test element AP for testing the low contrast.

The resolution test pattern embedded in the structure plate can be rotated by 45°, 60° and 90°. The basic phantom has an inclined step wedge with 14 ranges for testing the dynamic range. Two lines of five steel balls each symmetrically placed in the structure plate and in the basic attenuation phantom show the limitations on the thoracic wall side. Various acrylic absorbers can be used for testing the automatic exposure control (AEC).

DensiX is a manually operated film densitometer for measuring the optical density of processed X-ray films, exposed by a sensitometer (light exposure of a step wedge) or by X-ray equipment (X-ray exposure of a test object). It is suitable for constancy measurements on radiographic, mammographic and cine films. The length of the measuring arm is 20 cm, which makes it possible to measure the optical density even in the middle of 35 cm x 43 cm large size films. The special version DensiX-LE is used for acceptance test measurements.

The purpose of the test procedure based on the PET sensitivity phantom is to measure the sensitivity or ability of positron emission tomographs to detect positrons. The phantom used for this purpose is a set of five metal tubes of 700 mm length and 2.5 mm wall thickness each. The outside diameters are 9.5 mm, 12.7 mm, 15.9 mm, 19.1 mm and 22.2 mm. A plastic tube homogeneously filled with ¹⁸F liquid is inserted for the measurement. This line source has an outside diameter of approx. 5 mm and a length of approx. 800 mm. Successive measurements are made by accumulating the sleeve wall thickness with the uniform line source surrounded by known absorbers. From these measurements, the sensitivity without absorbers can be extrapolated to arrive at an attenuation free measurement. The measurement setup, data collection and analysis are described in section 5 of the NEMA standard NU2-2001.

The 0.1 liter chamber is used for environmental radiation monitoring. The rigid and compact construction makes the chamber suitable for stationary radiation monitoring as well as for mobile operation in vehicles. Due to its small size, the chamber only requires little space. The chamber is designed to measure very high dose rates of up to 4000 Sv/h (90 % saturation) as they may occur after nuclear accidents. The response is 3 · 10-⁶ C/Sv. Since the sensitive volume is open to the surroundings, air density correction is required for precise measurement. The chamber is fully guarded up to the measuring volume. The cylindrical chamber is made of aluminum with 4 mm wall thickness. The ion-collecting electrode is made of aluminum too. The external chamber diameter is 60 mm and the length is approx. 150 mm. For the transfer of the measuring signal and the polarizing voltage, the chamber is supplied with two coaxial Fischer connectors. Via an optional adapter cable of 1.5 m length, the chamber can be connected to a dosemeter with M connector, which has input circuits on ground potential. The maximum length of an extension cable is 100 m. The maximum chamber polarizing voltage is 500V

The moderator sphere¹ is a passive dose equivalent meter for area monitoring of natural radiation background. It measures the neutron component of the natural annual background radiation of about 30 µSv. The monitoring period is at least 3 months. The passive neutron dose equivalent meter consists of a moderator polyethylene sphere of 300 mm diameter and a detector holder placed at a central position in the sphere. An Albedo dosemeter case with inserted TLD card is placed inside the detector holder for measurement. The user must specify the types of TLD card and Albedo dosemeter case.

In addition to the standard version of the moderator sphere, a waterproof version is available for use in the open air. A special support made of aluminum is used to set up the moderator sphere free in air at a certain distance from backscatter material.

1. The moderator sphere has been developed in co-operation with the Research Center Karlsruhe, Germany

The SPECT emission phantom is an acrylic cylinder of 200 mm outside diameter and an active length of 190 mm. It simulates the head and can be supplied with a circular cover to insert point and line sources. The sources are introduced via three thin wall acrylic tubes of 7 mm diameter that are placed in the center and at distances of 45 mm and 90 mm from the center. If the tubes are not in use, they can be filled with scattering material. There are three point source holders of lengths 100 mm, 120 mm and 140 mm for placing small point sources at their tips. The line source is a glass capillary with 1 mm diameter, which is filled by a syringe.

The MS Windows software ConsiX is commonly used in combination with the automatic DensiX auto densitometer. ConsiX is designed for automatic optical density measurements of 21-step wedges, exposed by the SensiX sensitometer on a radiographic film. The film gradation curve is evaluated according to ANSI and DIN standards. ConsiX gives a warning if specific limits of density variation are exceeded. All data are stored as a function of date and can be printed.

The SensodensiX device is a combination of a sensitometer and a manual densitometer for quality control of X-ray film processing and for checking test phantom films.

The single-sided, dual color, light-emitting sensitometer exposes a step wedge of 21 steps on X-ray films. The light emission can be selected for blue sensitive films (spectral maximum 460 nm) and green sensitive films (spectral maximum 510 nm). The wedge constant is 0.15 OD according to international standards.

The manually operated densitometer is designed for optical density single point measurements of processed X-ray films, exposed by a sensitometer or by X-ray equipment. The measuring accuracy and the repeatability are ± 0.01 OD each. The measuring aperture is 3 mm diameter. The length of the measuring arm is 20 cm, which makes it possible to measure the optical density even in the middle of large size films (35 cm x 43 cm).

An external power supply is required to operate the unit.

X-Check DSA is a test object for quality checks of DSA equipment (Digital Subtraction Angiography). The size of the acrylic phantom is 150 mm x 150 mm x 57 mm. X-Check DSA includes a 6 mm thick acrylic slider with manual remote-control and contains four Al strips for vessel simulation to check dynamic range and artifacts. Sensitivity checks are conducted by means of a copper step wedge with 7 steps in 0.2 mm increments. An additional copper step of 1.4 to 0.2 mm makes it possible to evaluate logarithmic errors.

The DIAVOLT MULTI is designed for measurements of kVpmean, kVpmax, PPV, exposure time and dose of X-ray installations for CT, radiography, fluoroscopy and for dental applications.

The key features of the small and light-weight all-in-one device provide easy handling because of automatic functions like auto start, auto stop and auto range. The display reading switches automatically when used for measurements on under couch tubes.

The DIAVOLT MULTI has an analogue output which connects to an oscilloscope for displaying the voltage waveform. Furthermore because of the fast sampling frequency, precise measurements can be performed even on very demanding X-ray units with high substantial ripples. Moreover no test shots for determination of the right detector orientation are necessary and no external accessories are required for operation. Via the optional DiaControl expert software for automatic data evaluation, quality parameters like the accuracy, reproducibility and linearity can be checked fast and easily.