Professional Documents
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Wire type
IQI, ISO IQI
will be equal
to EN IQI
except for the
denomination
ISO
Image quality
in industrial
radiography
a crucial safety
factor
By Heinrich Heidt, ISO/TC 138,
Non-Destructive Testing, Subcommittee SC 5, Radiation methods
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From national to
International Standards
About 20 years ago, we had
manifold national standards for wire
type and step-hole type IQI (Image
Quality Indicators). There were differences in diameter, in number of wires
per IQI, in the form of plaquettes for
step-hole type IQI, etc. In international trade, some goods were rejected because of wrong IQIs on the
accompanying radiographs ! To avoid
this situation, some radiographers used
several IQIs on the same film, causing
additional cost and covering up useful
information on the radiograph.
This became, then, an urgent
problem, in Europe to begin with.
Within the European Committee for
Standardization, CEN/TC 138, WG 1
started with an investigation of which
IQIs were most frequently used, and
which IQIs were redundant. Finally,
one design for wire IQI and one for
step-hole type IQI were selected and
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Main Focus
From X-ray film to
electronics
In the 1990s, radiography started a fast change from film radiography
to electronic imaging devices. Nowadays there are radioscopic real time systems, different types of imaging plate
systems with reusable storage phosphor
screens, high resolution film digitizers,
and several kinds of direct and indirect
converting digital detector arrays (socalled flat panels). All give access to
image enhancement and quantitative
evaluation, some are capable of automatic image interpretation.
The simple IQIs of ISO
19232 were developed for film radiography and cover only a part of the image
quality parameters and control settings
of electronic systems. For the analysis
of the requirements of the users of electronic imaging devices and the preparation of additional standards, an international Task Group Digital Industrial
Radiology was founded by the International Institute of Welding (IIW),
Sub-Commission VA Radiographybased Weld Inspection Topics . Experts
are still welcome to join this work !
Standards have to reflect a changing state of the art , and their application must be effective, efficient and generally accepted. For industrial radiography, the quality of the image is crucial
for the safety of the inspected specimen.
With the inexpensive Image Quality
Indicators described in ISO 19232, each
radiographer and film interpreter has a
reliable tool to check the basic properties of the radiograph.
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