Practical Radiography: Principles and Applications by Peter Hertrich
Publicis Corporate Publishing, Erlangen, Germany
John Wiley and Sons, Hoboken, NJ, 2005, $70
Hertrich states that his goal is to "provide X-ray technologists, radiologists, service technicians, developers and sales engineers with a unique and comprehensive introduction to radiographic procedures and applications." Unfortunately, the book falls short of that goal.
Topics in the book are physical principles of x-ray production and utilization; radiation doses; diagnostic and interventional x-ray systems and components; imaging technology; and patient data management. But the actual coverage of these topics is rather scarce. For example, there is little on image reconstruction in CT. There is some information on radiation protection, but not much on radiobiology and the effect of different doses on humans.
Data compression is mentioned but the principles involved, such as pattern substitution, are not well explained. Compression algorithms are not thoroughly described and the differentiation between lossless and lossy image compression is not made clear.
The list of deficiencies goes on. When discussing imaging technology, the author states, that GIF and TIF image formats are not suitable for telemedicine, but does not explain why. The author also does not comment on the use of JPG format in telemedicine. The discussion on DICOM is embarrassingly superfluous. When reviewing hospital data networks, there is no mention of network security or HIPAA The section on how mammographic film differs from conventional x-ray is simply insufficient.
In its favor, Practical Radiography is well-indexed and is heavily illustrated. However, most illustrations are small and none are in color.
Ultimately, the presentation is dry and the text feels translated, lacking a sense of flow and making for a less-than-smooth reading experience. While I did not find significant inaccuracies in the information that is covered in the book, this quality does not justify the purchase price.
By Dr. Mikhail SerebrennikAuntMinnie.com contributing writer
September 20, 2005
Dr. Serebrennik is a third year diagnostic radiology resident at a university hospital in the northeastern U.S.
The opinions expressed in this review are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of AuntMinnie.com.
Copyright © 2005 AuntMinnie.com
