Abstract Objectives To evaluate image quality of radiographs obtained with photostimulable phosphor (PSP) plates after cleaning with 2% chlorhexidine. Methods Eight PSP plates were used: four from Express system and four from VistaScan system. Two plates from each system were wiped with 2% chlorhexidine in aqueous solution (CHX AQ), and the other two plates from each system with 2% chlorhexidine in alcoholic solution (CHX AL). Before cleaning and after every five cleaning cycles (up to 100 cleanings), two radiographs of an acrylic block and two of an aluminum step wedge were acquired with each PSP plate. The image’s gray values were measured to assess image brightness, noise, uniformity, and contrast. Two-way repeated measures ANOVA followed by Sidak's post hoc test analyzed the influence of the number of cleanings and substance type on these parameters (α = 0.05). Results Considering the number of cleanings, image brightness varied for CHX AL in the Express system and CHX AQ in the VistaScan system, with no consistent pattern (p 0.05). Noise varied for both substances in the VistaScan system, also without a clear pattern (p 0.05). In the Express system, regarding the substance type, CHX AL resulted in lower brightness and CHX AQ in lower noise after 75 cleanings (p 0.05). Contrast and uniformity were not affected by either the number of cleanings or the substance type (p 0.05). Despite numerical variations in some objective parameters, overall image quality remained stable across all cleanings for both substances. No artefacts were observed in the images. Conclusion Regarding image quality, 2% chlorhexidine—whether aqueous or alcohol-based—can be recommended for PSP plates cleaning.
Borge et al. (Wed,) studied this question.