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DIGITAL RADIOGRAPHY IN PRACTICE
 Published and Distributed Throughout the World by

CHARLES C THoMAS • PUBLISHER, LTD.

2600 South First Street
Springfield, Illinois 62704

This book is protected by copyright. No part of

it may be reproduced in any manner without written
permission from the publisher. All rights reserved.

© 2019 by CHARLES C THoMAS • PUBLISHER, LTD.

ISBN 978-0-398-09271-9 (paper)

ISBN 978-0-398-09272-6 (ebook)

Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 2019002485 (paper)

2019003074 (ebook)

With THoMAS BookS careful attention is given to all details of manufacturing

and design. It is the Publisher’s desire to present books that are satisfactory as to their
physical qualities and artistic possibilities and appropriate for their particular use.
THoMAS BookS will be true to those laws of quality that assure a good name
and good will.

Printed in the United States of America

MM-S-2

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Carroll, Quinn B., author.

Title: Digital radiography in practice | by Quinn B. Carroll.
Description: Springfield, Illinois, U.S.A. : Charles C Thomas,
Publisher, LTD., [2019] | Includes bibliographical references and
index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2019002485 (print) | LCCN 2019003074 (ebook) |
ISBN 9780398092726 (ebook) | ISBN 9780398092719 (paper)
Subjects: | MESH: Radiographic Image Enhancement | Image
Processing, Computer-Assisted—methods | Radiographic Image
Interpretation, Computer-Assisted | Technology, Radiologic
Classification: LCC RC78.4 (ebook) | LCC RC78.4 (print) | NLM WN
26.5 | DDC 616.07/572—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019002485
 REVIEWERS

Wayne McKenna, RTR, ACR, CAE

Program Coordinator, School of Radiography
University of Prince Edward Island
Charlottetown, PEI, Canada

Patrick Patterson, MS, RT (R) (N), CNMT

Director, Radiography Program
State College of Florida, Manatee-Sarasota
Bradenton, Florida

Robert L. Grossman, MS, RT (R) (CT)

Instructor, Radiography
Middlesex Community College
Middletown, Connecticut

Donna Endicott, MEd, RT (R)

Director, Radiologic Technology
Xavier University
Cincinnati, Ohio

v
 PREFACE

T his work is intended to provide medical radiography programs with an

economical textbook that focuses on the practical aspects of digital radi-
ography, limited in scope to information that will be pertinent to each grad-
uating student as he or she enters into clinical practice. Nearly all textbooks
to date claiming the title “digital radiography” have dealt primarily with the
managerial aspects of the topic at the expense of any practical information
on how digital imaging actually works and its clinical implications for the
daily practice of radiography.
Since no other books have yet filled this need, much of this information
has originated primarily from direct contact by the author with scientists at
Philips Healthcare, FujiMed and CareStream Health (previously kodak),
who were directly involved in actually developing these technologies, in
addition to numerous “white papers” published by companies that produce
digital radiography equipment. These sources are all listed at the end of the
book in the References.
A much more extensive treatment of the subject is found in Radiography
in the Digital Age (Charles C Thomas, Publisher, Ltd., 2018), a work by this
author of over 900 pages that provides experimental evidence and in-depth
explanations for all the various aspects of digital technology of interest to the
radiographer, in addition to the underlying physics of radiography, princi-
ples of exposure and technique, and a thorough coverage of radiation biol-
ogy and protection. Many of the lucid illustrations in this textbook are bor-
rowed here to make digital radiography comprehensible to the student, but
in this textbook we focus only on digital topics and state the facts with such
brief explanatory material as each topic will allow.
Use of the glossary is highly recommended whenever a concise definition
is needed for a particular term.
The goal of the author is to provide an accurate and adequate descrip-
tion of all of the aspects of digital images and digital equipment, and their
implications for radiographic technique and clinical application, but to do so
in the most student-friendly way possible by providing crisp, clear illustra-
tions along with readable text. Many digital topics are intimidating, and
every attempt is made to reduce these topics to a descriptive, non-mathe-
matical level that can be intuitively understood by the average student.
Feedback from educators and students is welcome.

vii
viii Digital Radiography in Practice

Ancillary Resources
Instructor Resources CD for Digital Radiography in Practice: This disc includes
hundreds of multiple-choice questions with permission for instructors’ use.
Answer keys for all chapter-end questions in the textbook are included,
along with keys to the multiple-choice question banks. (Instructors desiring
laboratory exercises and more extensive question banks are encouraged to
purchase the Instructor Resources CD for Radiography in the Digital Age, also
available from Charles C Thomas, Publisher, Ltd.) The website is
ccthomas.com.

PowerPoint™ Slides for Digital Radiography in Practice: PowerPoint™ slides are

available on DVD for classroom use. These are high-quality slides with large
text, covering every chapter of the textbook. (Instructors desiring more
extensive slides are encouraged to purchase the PowerPoint™ Slides for
Radiography in the Digital Age, also available from Charles C Thomas,
Publisher, Ltd.) The website is ccthomas.com.

Student Workbook for Digital Radiography in Practice: This classroom supple-

ment is correlated with the PowerPoint™ slide series for in-classroom use.
Although it can be used for homework assignments, it is designed to delib-
erately provoke student participation in classroom instruction while avoiding
excessive note-taking. All questions are in “fill-in-the-blank” format, focusing
on key words that correlate perfectly with the slide series. Available from
Charles C Thomas, Publisher, Ltd. The website is ccthomas.com.
 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

M any thanks to Wayne Mckenna, Donna Endicott, Patrick Patterson,

and Bob Grossman for reviewing this textbook. The assistance of Dr.
Ralph koenker at Philips Healthcare, Gregg Cretella at FujiMed, and Dr.
Daniel Sandoval at the University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center is
also greatly appreciated.
I am grateful for the perpetual support of family, friends, and prior stu-
dents who make all the effort meaningful. I dedicate this work to practicing
radiographers everywhere, on the front-lines of patient care.

ix
 CONTENTS

Page
Preface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vii

Chapter
1. NATURE oF THE DIGITAL RADIoGRAPH . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Development of Digital Radiography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Nature of the Digital Image . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Digitizing the Analog Image . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6
Bit Depth, Dynamic Range, and Gray Scale . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
What is a Pixel? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Voxels, Dexels, and Pixels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Chapter Review Questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

2. CREATING THE LATENT IMAGE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

overview of Variables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Creating Subject Contrast . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Role of Radiographic Technique in the Digital Age . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Subject Contrast and Sharpness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Variables Affecting the Quality of the Final Displayed
Radiographic Image . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Chapter Review Questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

3. QUALITIES oF THE DIGITAL RADIoGRAPH . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

Qualities of the Final Displayed Digital Image . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Qualities of the Latent Image Captured at the Image
Receptor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Resolution at the Microscopic Level . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Exposure Trace Diagrams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Chapter Review Questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

xi
xii Digital Radiography in Practice

4. RADIoGRAPHIC TECHNIQUE FoR DIGITAL

IMAGING . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Understanding X-Ray Beam Penetration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Sensitivity of Digital Units to Subject Contrast . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Subject Contrast and Exposure Latitude . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Use of Grids . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Sufficient Input Gray Scale . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Minimizing Patient Exposure with the 15 Percent Rule . . . . . . . . 39
Benefits of High kVp Radiography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Chapter Review Questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

5. PREPRoCESSING AND HISToGRAM ANALYSIS . . . . . . . . . 47

The Generic Steps of Digital Image Processing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Preprocessing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
Histogram Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
Chapter Review Questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61

6. RESCALING (PRoCESSING) THE DIGITAL

RADIoGRAPH . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
“Normalizing” the Image . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
Q Values and the Permanent LUT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
Chapter Review Questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70

7. DEFAULT PoSTPRoCESSING I: GRADATIoN

PRoCESSING . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
Digital Processing Domains . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
Gradation Processing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
Data Clipping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
Dynamic Range Compression . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
Chapter Review Questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84

8. DEFAULT PoSTPRoCESSING II: DETAIL

PRoCESSING . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
Understanding the Frequency Domain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
Frequency Detail Processing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
Spatial Detail Processing (kernels) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
Preparation for Display . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
Chapter Review Questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97

9. MANIPULATING THE DIGITAL IMAGE: oPERAToR

ADJUSTMENTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
Processing Algorithms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
Windowing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
Postprocessing Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
Chapter Review Questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
 Contents xiii

10. MoNIToRING AND CoNTRoLLING EXPoSURE . . . . . . . 113

Speed Class . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
A Brief History of Exposure Indicators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
The Deviation Index: Acceptable Parameters for Exposure . . . . 114
Limitations of the DI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
A Note on “Controlling” Factors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
Chapter Review Questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119

11. DIGITAL IMAGE ACQUISITIoN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121

Direct-Conversion DR Detectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
Indirect-Conversion DR Detectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
Computed Radiography (CR) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
Background and Scatter Radiation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
Sharpness of Digital Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
Efficiency of Image Receptors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
Digital Sampling and Aliasing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136
other Digital Artifacts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138
Chapter Review Questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139

12. DISPLAYING THE DIGITAL IMAGE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141

The Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) Monitor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143
LCD Image Quality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149
Nature of Display Pixels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153
Chapter Review Questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154

13. ARCHIVING PATIENT IMAGES AND INFoRMATIoN . . . . 156

Picture Archiving and Communication Systems (PACS) . . . . . . . 156
Medical Imaging Informatics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161
Chapter Review Questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163

14. DIGITAL FLUoRoSCoPY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165

Image Recording from an Image Intensifier Tube . . . . . . . . . . . . 166
Dynamic Flat-Panel Detectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168
Reducing Patient Dose . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169
Chapter Review Questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171

15. QUALITY CoNTRoL FoR DIGITAL EQUIPMENT . . . . . . . 172

Monitoring of Digital X-Ray Units . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172
Monitoring of Electronic Image Display Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . 173
Chapter Review Questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177

Glossary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197
DIGITAL RADIOGRAPHY IN PRACTICE
 Chapter 1

NATURE OF THE DIGITAL RADIOGRAPH

Objectives graphic image, and computers are based on

electricity.
Upon completion of this chapter, you should Three years later, in 1982, the introduction of
be able to: digital picture archiving and communication
systems (PACS) revolutionized the access, stor-
1. Analyze the differences between analog age and management of radiographic images.
and digital data and how they relate to Coupled with teleradiology, the ability to send
radiographic images. electronic images almost instantly anywhere in
2. Define the three steps in digitizing any ana- the world, the efficiency of medical imaging de-
log image. partments in providing patient care and diag-
3. Explain the relationships between bit noses was also revolutionized.
depth, dynamic range and image gray Computed radiography or “CR” became com-
scale. mercially available in the early 1980s, but was at
4. Describe the aspects of a digital image first fraught with technical problems. It was
matrix and how it impacts image sharp- found that “screens” coated with certain fluores-
ness. cent materials, which had been used to convert
5. Define voxels, dexels (dels), and pixels and dis- x-ray energy into light that exposed films, could
tinguish between them. be made to glow a second time afterward when
6. Describe the nature of voxels and how the x- stimulated by laser beams. This stimulated light
ray attenuation coefficient for each is trans- emission, using only the residual energy remain-
lated into the gray levels of pixels. ing in the screen after x-ray exposure, was very
dim indeed. But, after being captured by light-
Development of Digital Radiography sensitive diodes and converted into a meager
electrical current, it could be electronically and

T he first application of digital technology to

radiographic imaging occurred in 1979
when an analog-to-digital converter was at-
digitally amplified before being processed by a
computer to produce a bright radiographic im-
age on a display monitor.
tached to the TV camera tube of a fluoroscopy Early CR systems required an approximate
unit. It makes sense that digital conversion doubling of x-ray technique, resulting in a dou-
would first occur with fluoroscopy rather than bling of patient exposure. But they were later
“still” radiography, because the signal coming refined and paved the way for the development
from a TV camera tube was in the form of elec- of digital radiography or “DR,” first demonstrated
trical current rather than a chemical photo- in 1996.

3
4 Digital Radiography in Practice

The advancing miniaturization of electronics DR systems continue in use, after more than two
finally led to x-ray detectors that are smaller decades of refinement DR has emerged as the
than the human eye can detect at normal read- state-of-the-art technology for medical radiogra-
ing distance. By constructing image receptor phy.
“plates” with thousands of these small detectors
laid out in an active matrix array, it was possible Nature of the Digital Image
to convert the latent image carried by the rem-
nant x-ray beam directly into electrical current, DR, CR, DF (digital fluoroscopy), digital pho-
called direct-conversion DR. Indirect-conversion tography, and all other methods of acquiring a
DR units use a phosphor plate to first convert digital image result in the creation of a matrix of
the x-rays into light, then the active matrix array numerical values that can be stored in comput-
converts the light into electricity. Direct-conver- er memory. A matrix is a pattern of cells or loca-
sion systems convert the x-ray energy directly tions laid out in rows and columns as shown in
into electricity without the intermediate step of Figure 1.1. Each location or cell can be identi-
converting x-rays into light. Indirect conversion fied by its row and column designations, which
units have the advantage of saving patient radi- the computer keeps track of throughout any
ation dose, but direct-conversion units produce processing operations. Each location or cell in
better resolution. Since these are both desirable the matrix is referred to as a pixel, a contraction
outcomes, both types of systems continue in use. of the term picture element. Each pixel in an
All CR and DR imaging systems ultimately image is assigned a single numerical value, the
produce an electronic signal that represents the pixel value. For radiographs, the pixel value rep-
original image information. It is this electrical resents the brightness (or darkness) assigned to
signal that is “fed” into a computer for digital the pixel’s location in the image. This brightness
processing and then finally displayed on an elec- level is taken from a range of values stored in
tronic display monitor. Although both CR and the computer that represent different shades

Figure 1-1. A digital image matrix with the location of each cell designated by column and row.
 Nature of the Digital Radiograph 5

from “pitch black” all the way to “blank white,” using a continuous scale, it is infinitely divisible.
with hundreds of shades of gray in between. Now, suppose you choose to step along the
Light images enter through the lens of a cam- cross-beams. The wooden ties are discrete or sep-
era in analog form, that is, the various intensities arated into distinct units. Your progress along
of light can have any value. Likewise, x-rays them cannot be measured in fractions because
from a radiographic projection enter the image of the spaces between them. You must count
receptor plate in analog form. During a medical them in whole integers. Digitizing data limits the
sonogram procedure, sound waves enter the degree to which measurements can be subdi-
transducer in analog form, as do radio waves vided. It also limits the scale from which mea-
emanating from the patient during an MRI surements can be taken. For example, only so
scan. All of these forms of input must be con- many railroad ties of a particular size can be laid
verted into digital form so that we can manipu- between one point and another that is one kilo-
late the resulting images as we wish to do. meter away. In radiography, digitizing the pixel
To better distinguish between analog and dig- values limits the number of values that can exist
ital data, imagine that you are standing on a rail- between “pitch black” and “blank white.” This
road track (preferably with no trains coming) as makes them manageable, because there is not
shown in Figure 1-2. You can choose to walk an infinite number of values to deal with.
along the metal rails, doing a balancing act. or, For the purpose of building up an image and
you can choose to hop along the wooden cross- manipulating it, we need all pixel values to be
beams, stepping from tie to tie. The metal rails discrete, that is, selected from a limited scale of
are continuous, consisting of smooth, unbroken pre-set values. If our scale is set from 0 (for
lines. Your progress along the rails can be mea- blank white) to 4.0 (for pitch black), and we
sured in any fraction of distance—meters, mil- limit decimal places to the thousandths, then we
limeters, microns—there is no limit to how many will have 4000 values available to build up an
times you can divide these measurements into image. This is more than enough to allow the
smaller and smaller units. An analog measure- image to be not only built up for initial display,
ment can be as precise as we want, because, by but also to be “windowed” up and down, lighter

Figure 1-2. on a railroad track, the steel rails represent analog information—they are continuous and can be infi-
nitely subdivided. on the other hand, the wooden ties represent discrete or digital information, since they cannot be
subdivided into fractions as one steps from tie to tie. (From Q. B. Carroll, Radiography in the Digital Age, 3rd ed.
Springfield, IL: Charles C Thomas, Publisher, Ltd., 2018. Reprinted by permission.)
6 Digital Radiography in Practice

or darker at will, across the entire range of tion. For computed radiography (CR), the pro-
human vision as needed. Yet, it is not an infinite cessor or reader scans the exposed PSP plate in
range of values. a predetermined number of lines (rows) and
Mathematically, digitizing means rounding all samplings (columns) that define the correspond-
measurements to the nearest available digital ing pixels.
value. In the above example, an analog mea- For digital radiography (DR), the number of
surement of 1.0006 must be rounded up to the available pixels is determined at the detector
nearest thousandth or 1.001, a measurement of plate by the number of hardware detector ele-
1.00049 will be rounded down to 1.000. This ments (dexels) physically built into the plate in
rounding-out process may seem at first to be a rows and columns. In this case, collimation of the
disadvantage for digital computers. Strictly x-ray beam is analogous to the scanning function,
speaking, it is less accurate. However, when we because collimation effectively selects which of
take into consideration the limitations of the these detector elements will comprise the initial
human eye and ear, we find that digitized infor- matrix of the latent image that will be fed into
mation can actually be more accurate when read- the computer for processing. A similar concept
ing out the measurement. This is why digital holds true for digital fluoroscopy (DF): The ini-
equipment is used to clock the winner of a race tial field of view (FoV) selected for a dynamic
in the olympics: you may not be able to see that flat-panel system, or determined by the magnifi-
the winning racer was just two-thousandths of a cation mode of an image intensifier at the input
second ahead of the second-place racer, but a phosphor, are analogous to collimation—they
digital readout can make this distinction. As long determine the matrix size, the pixel size, and the
as the discrete units for a digital computer are smaller spatial resolution of the input mage that will be
than a human can detect, digitizing the data improves processed by the computer.
readout accuracy. All forms of digital imaging require the pre-
For digital photography and for digital radi- liminary step of formatting a matrix with a desig-
ography, if the units for pixel values are smaller nated pixel size, and whatever method is used, it
than the human eye can detect, the resulting dig- would fall under the broad definition of scanning.
ital image will appear to have the same quality The second step in digitizing an image is sam-
as an analog photograph or radiograph. Digiti- pling, defined as the detection and measurement
zation of incoming analog data is the function of of the intensity of signal coming into the system
a device called the analog-to-digital converter (ADC), at each pixel location, Figure 1-3B. For standard
which is used in all forms of medical digital photography, for CR, for indirect-conversion
imaging. DR, and for CCD or CMoS cameras mounted
atop a fluoroscopic image intensifier, this signal
Digitizing the Analog Image consists of the intensity of light striking each des-
ignated pixel area. For direct-conversion DR,
We can identify three basic steps to digitizing the signal consists of the intensity of x-rays strik-
an image that apply to all forms of images. The ing each pixel area. For an MRI machine, the
first step is scanning, in which the field of the signal consists of radio waves, and for sonogra-
image is divided into a matrix of small cells. phy, sound waves. The type of imaging equip-
Each cell will become a pixel or picture element ment being used determines the size and shape
in the final image. In Figure 1-3A, the field is of the aperture or opening through which these
divided into 7 columns and 9 rows, resulting in signal measurements are taken. For example,
a matrix size of 63 pixels. The photocopy scan- the detector elements of a DR machine are
ner connected to your home computer can be essentially square, whereas the pixel aperture
heard making a pre-copying sweep before it inside a CR reader is round, and the initial pixel
makes the actual copy, performing this function samplings overlap each other, because a round
of pixel allocation and matrix size determina- laser beam is used to stimulate the PSP plate to
 Nature of the Digital Radiograph 7

Figure 1-3. Three steps for digitizing an image: A) Scanning to format the image into a matrix of defined pixels (or
dexels); B) Sampling, in which measurements are taken from each pixel or dexel; and C) Quantizing, in which each
measurement is rounded to the nearest digital value available within the dynamic range.

glow, Figure 1-4. This overlapping effect must be level in the preset dynamic range. In Figure 1-
“cropped” in order to form roughly square- 3C, there are only 11 such values available to
shaped pixels for the final displayed image. choose from to build up this simplified image.
The third and final step in digitizing an image This is the process of quantization or quantizing
is quantization. In the previous section, we the image.
described how analog values must be effectively
rounded out to form discrete values that the digi- Bit Depth, Dynamic Range,
tal computer can recognize and manipulate. and Gray Scale
These values must be selected from a predeter-
mined scale of numbers called the dynamic range. The term dynamic range is frequently misap-
The dynamic range of any imaging system is the plied, even by physicists, and can be a source of
range of pixel values, or shades of gray, made available confusion. For example, some have limited the
by the combined hardware and software of the system term to describing the characteristics of a DR
to build up a final displayed image. Actual values of detector plate. But, with such a narrow defini-
the signal intensity measured, which will be- tion, digital features such as dynamic range com-
come the brightness level for every pixel, must pression or dynamic range control (DRC), which
each be rounded up or down by an analog-to-dig- alter the dynamic range during processing, would
ital converter (ADC) to the nearest available gray imply that we have effectively gone backward
8 Digital Radiography in Practice

Figure 1-4. The sampling aperture for DR equipment is roughly square, A. Since the aperture for CR is round, B
(due to the round scanning laser beam in the CR reader), the original samplings must overlap each other in order
to fill the square pixels of the final displayed image on the LCD. (From Q. B. Carroll, Radiography in the Digital Age,
3rd ed. Springfield, IL: Charles C Thomas, Publisher, Ltd., 2018. Reprinted by permission.)

in time to alter a characteristic of the image Therefore, the full bit depth of a hardware
receptor plate during the initial exposure. The system need not be used in presenting images at
student must understand that although the terms the display screen, and doing so slows down com-
dynamic range and bit depth are often used inter- puter processing time. Appropriate to the med-
changeably in practice, we can find clarity by ical application of a particular imaging machine,
examining the dominant use of each term by the system software determines the range of bright-
experts. ness levels or pixel values that are made avail-
The term bit depth is dominantly applied to able for building up images at the display mon-
hardware devices such as computers, display monitors, itor. This is the dynamic range—the range of pixel
and DR detector plates. Bit depth is the maximum values, brightness, or gray levels made available by the
range of pixel values the computer or other hardware combined hardware and software of an imaging sys-
device can store. Bit depth is expressed as the tem to build up a final image at the display monitor.
exponent of the base 2 that yields the corre- The displayed brightness level at each pixel
sponding binary number; For example, if a typ- must be “selected” from this scale. This is the
ical DR detector has a bit depth of 10, it can quantizing step in digitizing an image, Figure 1-
store 210 = 1024 pixel values. A display moni- 3C. As with bit depth, the dynamic range of a
tor with a bit depth of 8 can store 28 = 256 pixel system is usually expressed as a binary expo-
values (or shades of gray). We say that the mon- nent, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, 128, 256, 528, 1024 or
itor’s pixels are “8 bits deep.” The bit depth of the 2048. This range is available to each pixel in the
human eye is only about 5, or 25 = 32 different image. once the final image is built up and dis-
levels of brightness that it can discern. Since the played, we define the gray scale of the image as
bit depth of nearly all types of imaging equip- the range of grays or brightness levels actually
ment is well beyond the capacity of the human displayed.
eye, the resulting images can be indistinguish- To summarize, bit depth generally describes
able from analog images to us. the capabilities of the hardware equipment be-
 Nature of the Digital Radiograph 9

ing used to capture, process, and display an tures. Remember that the main advantage of dig-
image. Dynamic range is the range of pixel values ital imaging over conventional film imaging is its
made available by the entire system (hardware enhanced contrast resolution, which depends
and software) to build up a displayed image. entirely on an extended dynamic range and the
And, gray scale is the range of grays actually ap- processing latitude it affords.
parent in the displayed image. Dynamic range is The “dynamic range” of the x-ray beam itself
a subset of the bit depth of a system, and displayed is said to be approximately 210 or 1024 shades.
gray scale is a subset of the dynamic range. Most digital imaging systems used in health care
In medical imaging, there is an essential pur- have dynamic ranges set at 10 bits (1024), 11
pose for using a dynamic range that is much bits (2048) or in some advanced systems, 12 bits
larger than the displayed gray scale. There must (4096).
be “room” for image manipulation by the user,
such as windowing the brightness or gray scale What is a Pixel?
up and down. As shown in Figure 1-5, “level-
ling” or changing the window level of the image To the computer expert, a pixel has no par-
essentially slides the displayed gray scale up or ticular size or shape—it is a dimensionless point in
down the available dynamic range. From an the image which has had a pixel value as signed
average brightness level, there must be room for to it. In some contexts, this may be the best way
several doublings or halvings of the displayed to think of a pixel. After all, an image can be
overall brightness. The same kind of flexibility enlarged by simply magnifying the size of these
must also be provided to allow for adjustments individual picture elements, while each element
of the gray scale and contrast. still displays its single pixel value across what-
In addition to this, even more “room” must ever area it occupies. Inside a CR reader, the
be allowed for special processing features such pixels being sampled from an exposed PSP
as image subtraction to be applied without “run- plate are circular in their initial shape, while the
ning out” of available pixel values, a phenome- “final” pixels displayed from an LCD display
non called data clipping (see Chapter 7). CT and monitor are squares. Each pixel is defined only
MRI systems require a 12-bit dynamic range by the pixel value it contains and by its relative
(4096 values) for their enhanced processing fea- location in the matrix, not by its size or shape.
However, in the imaging chain there are sev-
eral different types of matrices involved in the
acquisition of the image, processing of the im-
age, and display of the image. In a DR system,
the detector plate is made up of many hundreds
of small detector elements that are essentially
square in shape, and which have a fixed size
since they are hardware devices. More impor-
tantly, the hardware pixels of an LCD (liquid-crys-
tal display) monitor are made up of the inter-
sections of flat, transparent wires crossing over
each other to form an overall square shape. For
the radiographer’s purposes, it is probably best
to visualize pixels as generally square in shape
and having a set size. This will help to under-
Figure 1-5. The dynamic range made available by the stand most of the concepts that are essential for
computer and its software must be long enough to allow clinical practice.
windowing of the actual displayed gray scale up or For radiography, we define a pixel as the
down by several factors of 2. smallest element of the matrix or device that can rep-
10 Digital Radiography in Practice

resent all pixel values within the system’s dynamic

range, that is, all available pixel values.

Voxels, Dexels, and Pixels

Digital radiography (DR) and computed radi-

ography (CR) both work on the basis of the
attenuation, or “partial absorption,” of x-rays as
they pass through the human body. Each differ-
ent type of tissue area within the body has an
attenuation coefficient defined as the percentage or
ratio of the original x-ray beam intensity that is
absorbed by it. But, as illustrated in Figure 1-6,
the x-ray beam is projecting data from 3-dimen-
sional volumes of tissue onto a 2-dimensional image
receptor surface. At this surface, each square de-
tector element (dexel or del ) records all of the
information within a square-shaped tube of tissue
above it that extends all the way from the front
of the patient to the back of the patient (for an
AP projection). In effect, the attenuation coeffi-
cients for all of the tissues within this square-
shaped tube are averaged together upon being
recorded at the detector.
Because the x-ray beam is spreading out or
diverging as it passes through the body, each of
the squared tubes shown in Figure 1-6 actually
expands somewhat as it passes from the front to
the back of the body. Technically, then, these
tubes are long trapezoids that are square in their
cross-section.
We name these long square tubes volume ele-
ments or voxels. Each voxel represents the volume
of tissue within the patient from which data will
Figure 1-6. The averaged attenuation coefficient from
be collected and averaged by the dexel below it. each voxel within the patient is measured by the corre-
The averaged attenuation coefficient determines the sponding dexel of the DR detector plate below, then dig-
pixel value that will ultimately be assigned to the itally processed to become an individual pixel in the dis-
image pixel corresponding to this detector ele- played image.
ment. This pixel value must be selected from
the dynamic range made available from the
computer software, so the average attenuation tem as follows: To form a digital radiographic
coefficient that is measured by the dexel must image, data from the voxels within the patient are
be digitized or rounded to the nearest available collected by the dexels of the image receptor,
value in the dynamic range. then computer processed to become the pixels of
As illustrated in Figure 1-6, we might sum- the displayed image.
marize the radiographic process for a DR sys-
 Nature of the Digital Radiograph 11

Chapter Review Questions 10. The full range of pixel values that any
hardware device (such as a computer or a
1. The first application of digital technology display monitor), can store is best labeled
to radiographic imaging occurred in what as its bit _____________.
year? 11. The range of pixel values made available
2. “DR” systems convert the latent image by the combined hardware and software
carried by the remnant beam from x-rays of an imaging system to build up the final
directly into _____________. displayed image is best labeled as the
3. All digital images are laid out in pattern _______ _______.
of pixel locations called a _____________. 12. The range of brightness levels visually
4. Unlike digital data, analog measurements apparent in the displayed image is best
are on a continuous scale that is infinitely labeled as its _______ _______.
_____________. 13. For radiography, we define a single pixel
5. To obtain discrete values for a set of digi- as the _____________ element that can rep-
tal data, analog measurements must be resent all the pixel values within the sys-
mathematically _____________. tem’s dynamic range.
6. As long as the discrete units for a digital 14. To ultimately formulate a pixel for a DR
computer are smaller than a human can or CR image, the first step is to measure
detect, digitizing data _______________ read- and average the attenuation coefficients
out accuracy. (reduces or improves) for all of the tissues within a square-
7. List the three steps to digitizing an image: shaped tube of tissue called a ____________.
8. For a detector plate with hardware ele- 15. For a DR system, these measurements
ments, collimation of the x-ray beam is (from question #14) are detected and
analogous to which of these three steps recorded by a _____________ in the image
(from question #7): receptor plate, then computer processed
9. During the step of quantization, each pixel to become the pixel values of the dis-
has a discrete pixel value assigned to it, played image.
selected from a predetermined scale of
values called the _______ _______.
Other documents randomly have
different content
"And just then we saw the lamb trotting off to the
field quite content.
"At last it grew to be a very big sheep—too big to
come trotting into the farm kitchen, for it was so
strong and bumped against Jane so much that she
would often chase it out with a broom.
"Then father said it must go into the field and stay
there for good.
"'I am glad,' said Jane, when she heard about it; 'I
hope we shall never have another pet lamb.'
"But I did not think so, for I loved it very much.
"Long afterwards, when I went to the field, it would
come running to me when I called.
"So that was how I got my pet lamb," said Bobs's
mother.
"How lovely it must have been!" said Bobs. "I wish
I lived in the country."
 The Sparrow Hawks.
George, George! Where are you?" called Frank as he went through
the wood.
"I am here," answered George.
"Where? I can't see you," shouted Frank at the top of his voice.
"I am here, up a tree," said George.
"Whatever are you doing there?" said Frank as he spied George's fat
legs through the branches of a tree.
"I shall be down in a minute," said George, "and I will tell you."
Presently George came scrambling down so quickly that Frank
thought he would be sure to fall.

But George was not afraid of this, for had he not been used to
climbing trees all his life? But then, you see, George lived in the
country, and Frank had only come to stay with him for his summer
holiday.
And what a surprise this holiday was to Frank, who lived in a town
where he could not see the green fields nor hear the birds sing!
"Frank," said George in a whisper, "there is a hawk's nest up that
tree."
 "Did you see it?" asked Frank.
"Yes," answered George, "but I could not get close to
it; I must try again to-morrow."
The next day being fine, George and Frank hurried to
the wood. They soon came to the tree where the nest
was, and George began to climb.
Up, up, he went, higher and higher, until Frank could not see him
any more, for it was a very high tree.
"I have found it," shouted George, "and there are young ones in it."
"Oh! do bring one down," called Frank. "I should like to see it."
"I will try," answered George, "but they are very savage."
However, George managed to get hold of one of the young hawks,
and he started to come down the tree once more. It was not so easy
to climb down this time, and he had many scratches and bruises
before he reached the ground again.
"Look!" said George; "this is a young hawk." And he held it out for
Frank to see.
It was very pretty but very angry, and it had given George some
hard pecks, so that his fingers were bleeding.
Well, George and Frank took the young hawk home and put it into a
cage.
Now, I think these two boys were very cruel to rob the nest; but if
you read the rest of this story you will see what happened.
The next day Frank said to George, "I wish I had another hawk to
take home to my brother Fred. He would be so pleased."
So, sad to say, George climbed the tree again, and took out of the
nest another bird, and they put it into the cage beside its mate.
The next week Frank went back to town, for he had spent a long
holiday, and it was now time to go back to school.
What must have been the feelings of the poor hawks when they
found themselves shut up in a cage and taken away in the train to a
smoky town?
Fred was delighted when he saw them, although he was rather
afraid to go near them, for they ruffled their feathers and looked so
angry if any one attempted to touch them.
So the poor birds were put in an outhouse, and
given raw meat to eat, and very miserable they
looked.
After a few days Frank began to wish that he had
never asked George to take them from their nest.
You see, after Fred had seen them there was no
more fun, and Frank thought that they might die if
they were shut up for a long time in a cage.
"Fred," said Frank, "what do you think we should
do with these birds?"
"Well," said Fred, "I think we ought to take them
into the country and set them free again."
"Hurrah!" shouted Frank; "that is just what I was
thinking. Let us do it now."
So Frank and Fred covered up the cage, and off
they went.
I think the sparrow hawks must have been saying
to each other, "Oh dear me! What are they going to
do with us now?"
After a very, very long walk the two boys came to the green fields.
They were very tired and hot and dusty, so Frank said, "Oh, let us
open the cage now, for I cannot go any further."
But Fred answered, "There is a wood not far away. Let us go there,
and then the birds will feel more at home."
 So they went on until they came to the wood.
Frank took the cover off the cage, and Fred
opened the door.
The hawks looked out for a few seconds, and
then made one dash for liberty.
They mounted higher and higher, and then
soared away out of sight.
Frank looked at Fred, and Fred looked at Frank,
and then both together they said,—
"I am glad they are free."
"I wonder where they will go," said Fred.
But they never knew, for
the birds were never seen
again.
Frank and Fred were two
happy boys as they trudged
back to town again. Never,
never again will they keep a hawk in prison, or
indeed any other free and happy bird of the
woods.
 Jacko.
Oh, look, look!" cried Tony; "here are some real live bears."
"Where?" said Elsie, as she came running round the corner. "Oh,
what funny-looking things they are!"
It was a fine day in June, and Tony and Elsie had come with their
mother to see all the animals at the Zoo.
And what a jolly time they were having!
When they had paid their money and passed through the turnstile,
the first thing they saw was a strange-looking bird perched on a
branch beside a seat where one of the keepers was sitting.
"That is not a real bird," said Tony. "It is only
put there to make fun of people."
Just then it turned its head right round and
stared steadily at Tony.
"Why, it is real!" said Tony in surprise. "What
a funny-looking bird!"
"It is an owl," said the keeper, "and there are
a lot more in the cages there."
So Tony and Elsie went on and saw the rest
of the owls.
Next, they came to the parrot house. Oh! what screeching and
screaming there was!
"Hullo!" said a voice so close to Elsie that it made her jump.
"It is only a parrot," said Tony, laughing; "he can talk."
There were parrots outside too, swinging on perches, and they
looked very beautiful in the sunlight.
Then Tony, Elsie, and mother went on and on and saw all kinds of
animals. They had a ride on an elephant, and when it was time to
get off, mother was standing with a bag of buns in her hand, and
before she could speak Jumbo had put out his trunk and taken one.
What a surprise she got!

Inside the elephant house was another Jumbo, and when they told
him to dance he went round and round in his cage in the most
comical manner. Then he opened his mouth wide for Tony to throw a
bun into it.
Well, well, what heaps of things there were to see! At last Tony and
Elsie came to the bears.
And there, sitting in a cage, was a lovely brown bear.
"Oh, isn't he a darling?" said Elsie.
"Yes," answered Tony. "Let us give him something to eat."
So he threw a piece of bun to him, and he caught it in his paw. Then
mother said, "Sit up, then;" and greatly to their surprise the bear sat
up on his hind legs and begged.
"Now," said Elsie, "I should like to see the monkeys."
"Come on, then," cried Tony; "I'll race you." And away they ran.
Just inside the door of the monkey house was a great big monkey
sitting all alone in his cage.
"Ugh!" said Elsie; "isn't he ugly?"
And what do you think happened? Up got the monkey, and picking
up a handful of gravel, threw it at Elsie.
You see the monkey did not like being called names, and was very
much hurt.
Well, there were all kinds of monkeys—big monkeys and little
monkeys—running and climbing about their cages. Tony gave them
nuts and pieces of carrot, and one sly old monkey took his share and
hid it in a corner under the straw.
"I do wish I had a monkey, all for my very own," said Tony, as they
went home that day.
"Do you?" asked Elsie. "I do not think I should like one."
The next day Tony and Elsie had been playing in the garden, and as
they were coming into the house Tony spied a queer-looking bundle
in the corner of the door-way.
"What is this?" he said. "Look, Elsie; why, I do declare it is a
monkey."
"A monkey!" exclaimed Elsie.
"Yes," said Tony. "Poor little thing, how he does shake!"
"Mother, mother!" they both called out, "come and see this monkey!"
"Why, Tony," said mother, "you have got your wish. Here is a
monkey come to you. But let us take him inside."
So Tony picked the monkey up in his arms and took him into the
house.
They found the poor little thing was suffering from a wounded foot,
and when they had bathed and dressed it they gave it some food.
Just then father came in, and when he saw the monkey he said,—
"Hullo! what have you got here? A monkey!"
"O father!" said Tony and Elsie together.
"One at a time," said father.
So Elsie told the story whilst father listened.
"Well," said father, "I think I know where this poor little monkey has
come from."
"As I came through the village I saw a man looking for a monkey. He
told me it had run away from him, and he could not afford to lose it,
as it earned a lot of money by doing tricks."
"Well," said Tony, "the man must have been very cruel to it, for it is
very thin and tired."
"O father, don't send it back," said Elsie.
"But I thought you did not like monkeys," said father.
"Yes, yes, I do," replied Elsie; "I like this one very much."
"Then," said father, "I shall ask the man if we may buy him."
The next day the man was sent for, and he willingly sold the monkey
to father. "For," he said, "Jacko will never do much good now."
So Jacko was tenderly cared for and fed, and very soon his foot got
all better, and he began to grow fat.
He was very kind to the children, and would
play with them, but sometimes he was very
mischievous.
One day, when the maid was washing, she
went into the garden and found the clothes
all lying about on the grass.
"Dear me," she said, "I cannot have hung
them up right." So she pinned them up again,
and went into the house. Presently, out she
came once more, and what was her surprise
to find the clothes all down again!
The maid said, "I will put them up again, and this time I will watch."
So she pinned the clothes up again, and hid behind the door.
Presently, along the garden wall came Jacko. Away he ran along the
clothes-line, picking out all the pegs as he went, and down dropped
the clothes upon the grass.
"Oh, you villain!" cried the maid; "take that!" And she threw a bowl
of water at Jacko. But Jacko only made a face at her as he
scampered away.
So Jacko had recovered his spirits, and was very happy. Let us hope
he will live for many, many years.
 The Horse that went to Church.
Maggie and May had a dear old horse which was a great pet, and its
name was Bobbie.

Now Bobbie was very, very wise, and if I were to tell you all the
funny things he did, why, I should fill this book so that there would
not be room for anything else.
Of course, these two little girls lived in the country; for boys and
girls who live in towns very seldom have a horse to play with.
It was harvest time, and the reapers were very busy cutting down
the golden corn and binding it into sheaves.
Have you ever been in a harvest field on a summer afternoon? I can
tell you it is delightful, and those of you who have not been there
have missed something very nice indeed.
Now every afternoon there was great running to and fro in the farm
kitchen, for Mollie, the cook, was putting into a basket tea, and
bread and butter, and scones, and all sorts of good things for Maggie
and May to take to the workers in the harvest field.
At four o'clock the stable boy opened the stable door, and out trotted
Bobbie, saddled; for he, too, was going to the harvest field.
Maggie would ride upon his back, and May would carry the basket;
and when the workers saw them coming they would all sit down in a
corner of the field waiting to have tea.
 Bobbie knew the road to the field quite well, but, sad
to say, he was very lazy, and would not hurry at all.
Then Maggie would drive him close to the hedge, and
pretend she was getting a stick to whip him with.
When she did this he began to trot, and never
stopped until he came to the gate in the field.

When tea was over, and all the things were gathered
into the basket again, these two little girls would both
get on Bobbie's back, one behind the other; and he
galloped off, for he was thinking to himself, "Now I am going back to
my stable and to a good feed of hay."
When all the corn was gathered in and sent away to be made into
flour, Maggie and May went back to school. Bobbie went with them
every day, for it was too far away for little girls to walk.
They would both jump upon his back, and with a "Gee-up, Bobbie,"
off he trotted.
Every Sunday Bobbie went to church. I do not mean that he went
into church, for I am afraid the seat would not have held him, and
he would have looked rather funny.
As soon as the first bell rang, the stable boy harnessed him to the
trap, and round trotted Bobbie to the door of the house.
When the second bell began to ring Maggie and May got into the
dogcart and drove off to church. When they got there Bobbie was
put into a stable not far away until the service was over.
Now one Sunday morning these two little girls could not go to
church, so that Bobbie was not harnessed as usual.
When the first bell began to ring Maggie said to May, "Listen, May; I
think I hear Bobbie crying for us. Let us look out of the window."
There, with his head looking over the stable door, was Bobbie,
whinnying as loudly as he could.
"Look, look!" cried May; "he is trying to get out."
Just then Bobbie gave a great jump over the door, and was trotting
off to church.
He went straight to his stall in the stable, and remained there until
the service was over; and when the other horses backed out, Bobbie
did the same, and came home, no doubt feeling that he had done
his duty.
 The Weasel and the Rabbit.
Freda and Max were having a holiday in a lovely country town. Every
day they went for a walk, sometimes climbing hills, and at other
times going down by the river.
One morning Uncle Jim said,—
"Let us all go down to Hope's Farm and see the farmer, and I may
just fish a little in the river before coming home."
"Hurrah! hurrah!" cried Freda and Max together. "I should love to
see you catch a fish."
So off they went. There were Freda and Max, Uncle Jim, and father
and mother—quite a jolly party.
It was a lovely morning, and the banks at the sides of the road were
clad with all kinds of flowers. Freda and Max gathered big bunches,
and Don, the sheep-dog, kept poking his nose into every rabbit hole
he came to. Sometimes he got so far down the hole that only his
hind legs were sticking out.
Don was very anxious to catch a rabbit, and sometimes he sat
outside poor bunny's house for quite a long time, with his ears
pricked up and his head on one side, listening. He did catch a rabbit
once, but I will tell you about that some other time.
Well, after Freda and Max and all the others had walked for some
miles, they came to the farm. It stood at the foot of a high hill, and
quite near to the river.
Max said how jolly it would be to jump out of bed in the mornings
and fish for trout for breakfast.
Uncle Jim saw the farmer, who gave each of them a glass of milk to
drink. It was fresh from the cow and still warm. They all sat down on
the grass before the house to drink it.
The sun was shining, and the birds were singing, and Freda said it
would be lovely to sit there for ever and ever.
Max said he did not think so. He wanted to go fishing some day like
Uncle Jim.
But Freda said, "Of course, Max is only a boy."
I am afraid these two children would have begun to quarrel there
and then, had not Uncle Jim cried out,—
"Look! look! there are some trout jumping out of the water."
And it was quite true. The river was sparkling in the sunshine, and
the trout were leaping out of it high into the air to catch the flies for
food.
Suddenly, it seemed as if the whole world had stopped moving. The
birds ceased their singing, and all was silent.
They all sat and looked, and presently, away at the other side of the
broad river, near the edge of the wood, a rabbit came hopping along
as though in great pain. They all watched until it disappeared into
the wood.

"What is the matter with the poor rabbit?" said Max.

"Hush!" said Uncle Jim. "See what is coming now."
And there, creeping along swiftly and silently, in the very track of the
poor rabbit, was a large weasel.
They all watched it with bated breath.
Nearer and nearer the weasel got to the place where the rabbit had
fled, and presently it, too, went out of sight.
"Oh! I do hope poor bunny is safe now," cried Freda.
But alas, just then a loud scream rang through the wood, and they
knew then that at last the weasel had caught the rabbit.
Uncle Jim then waded across the river, and went into the wood to
see if he could find the weasel, but he came back without being able
to do so.
"But how could a small weasel kill a large rabbit?" asked Max.
"Well, you see," said Uncle Jim, "when a weasel hunts a rabbit, the
rabbit is so much afraid that it loses all its strength, so that it is
unable to run fast and get to a place of safety."
"Then the weasel very soon catches the rabbit and kills it."
"I hate weasels," said Freda.
"So do I," said Max.
"Oh, well, you see," said Uncle Jim, "the weasel must get food; and
I know some little people who are very fond of rabbit pie."
 The Saucy Squirrels.
Do tell me a true story, auntie," said Maggie one evening.

"Very well," answered auntie. "It is just half an hour before bed-
time. Now what shall I tell you?"
"It must be a true story," said Maggie, "because, you know, we
agreed that bed-time stories must be true. Do you know anything
about squirrels?"
"Yes, I do," answered auntie, "and I will tell you about them.
"One day, not very long ago, Auntie Jessie and I went for a walk in
Regent's Park.
"Now you may remember that this park is quite near to the Zoo, and
as you walk along you can hear the roaring of the lions and the
shrieking of the different animals in their cages not far away.
"It was a beautiful spring day, and Auntie Jessie and I were
sauntering along one of the walks, when suddenly she said,—
"'Look, look! there is one of the squirrels out of the Zoo! It must
have escaped.'
"And there, sitting in the middle of the path before us was a lovely
gray squirrel, with its bushy tail curled up its back.
"'Ah, how pretty it is,' I cried. 'See, it is not a bit afraid!'
"Auntie Jessie threw some biscuit to it, and it came close up to us.
"'Why,' I cried, 'I do believe there are some more coming to us.'
 "And down the trees they came, helter-skelter, along
the grass as fast as they could.
"'Well,' said Auntie Jessie, 'I had no idea there were
squirrels here.'
"'Nor I,' I said. 'Let us go and buy some nuts and buns
for them to eat.'
"'Yes, do,' said Auntie Jessie, and off we went.
"We came back in a very short time, and when the squirrels saw us
they came scampering along once more.
"I stood with my back to the railings, and one bold little squirrel
climbed up my back. Then it ran along my arm as I held it out, and
took nuts out of my hand.
"Then some would climb up my dress, and when I looked up I saw
one saucy little squirrel sitting on Auntie Jessie's shoulder.

"Another one who was not very hungry took a nut and ran along the
grass, scratched away some leaves with his foot, made a little hole,
dropped the nut inside, covered it all up again with the earth and
leaves, and then came back for more.
"Oh, he was a funny little fellow! You see that was his cupboard, and
he kept all his food there until he was hungry enough to eat it."
"How pretty they must have been!" said Maggie.
"Yes, they were indeed," answered auntie, "and some day I shall
take you there, and you can then feed them yourself.
"After we had fed the squirrels, it was time for us to come home. As
we were coming along the lane I found something awfully nice. Can
you guess what it was?"
"A purse," answered Maggie.
"Wrong," said auntie. "Try again."
"A bracelet."
"Wrong again," said auntie. "I will tell you.
"Just as Auntie Jessie and I were coming past the orchard we spied
a black-looking object in the path before us. As we got nearer to it
we found it was a tiny young blackbird. It had flown down from its
nest in the tree, and now it was too afraid to move.
"I took it in my hand, and how its little heart did beat! It
was very much afraid. Then I went into the orchard, and
put it in a place of safety, and it fluttered away.
"We had not gone very far along the road again when
Auntie Jessie gave a squeal and jumped back.
"Just then down dropped a young thrush from another
tree. But just as I was going to pick it up it flew across the
road. So I left it there, as it was quite able to take care of itself.
"And now there is not time to tell you any more to-night, for it is
time to go to bed."
 The Owl in the Dovecot.
Father," said Jack, when he came home from school one day, "I have
had a lesson to-day about the owl."
"Have you?" said Jack's father. "And what did the teacher tell you?"
"Well," said Jack, "the teacher told us how it slept in the
day time and only came out after dusk. Have you ever
seen an owl, father?"
"Yes I have," answered Jack's father. "Come and I will tell
you about it."
So Jack sat himself down on the mat before the fire, and
father cleared his throat and began,—
"Once upon a time, when I was a boy like you, I had a little brother,
and his name was Bob.
"Now Bob and I used to play together, go to school together, go to
bed together—in fact, we did nearly everything together.
"Bob said one day to his mother, 'Mother, I should love to have some
real doves. Do, please, get me some.'
"So mother said, 'Well, I will help you to get some, but you must
save up all your pennies as well.'
"Bob and I saved up our Saturday pennies for a long time. At last,
with mother's help, we had enough to buy some doves. They were
pretty, all white, with rings round their necks.
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