| 11. |
- Johnsson, Åse (Allansdotter), 1966, et al.
(författare)
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Overview of two years of clinical experience of chest tomosynthesis at Sahlgrenska University Hospital.
- 2010
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Ingår i: Radiation protection dosimetry. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 1742-3406 .- 0144-8420. ; 139:1-3, s. 124-129
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Since December 2006, approximately 3800 clinical chest tomosynthesis examinations have been performed at our department at Sahlgrenska University Hospital. A subset of the examinations has been included in studies of the detectability of pulmonary nodules, using computed tomography (CT) as the gold standard. Visibility studies, in which chest tomosynthesis and CT have been compared side-by side, have been used to determine the depiction potential of chest tomosynthesis. Comparisons with conventional chest radiography have been made. In the clinical setting, chest tomosynthesis has mostly been used as an additional examination. The most frequent indication for chest tomosynthesis has been suspicion of a nodule or tumour. In visibility studies, tomosynthesis has depicted over 90 % of the nodules seen on the CT scan. The corresponding figure for chest radiography has been <30 %. In the detection studies, the lesion-level sensitivity has been approximately 60 % for tomosynthesis and 20 % for chest radiography. In one of the detection studies, an analysis of all false-positive nodules was performed. This analysis showed that all findings had morphological correlates on the CT examinations. The majority of the false-positive nodules were localised in the immediate subpleural region. In conclusion, chest tomosynthesis is an improved chest radiography method, which can be used to optimise the use of CT resources, thereby reducing the radiation dose to the patient population. However, there are some limitations with chest tomosynthesis. For example, patients undergoing tomosynthesis have to be able to stand still and hold their breath firmly for 10 s. Also, chest tomosynthesis has a limited depth resolution, which may explain why pathology in the subpleural region is more difficult to interpret and artefacts from medical devices may occur.
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| 12. |
- Larsson, Lars E, et al.
(författare)
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Harmonisation of the appearance of digital radiographs from different vendors by means of common external image processing
- 2010
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Ingår i: Radiation protection dosimetry. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 1742-3406 .- 0144-8420. ; 139:1-3, s. 92-97
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The aim of the present study was to evaluate the use of common external image processing to compensate for differences in appearance between digital X-ray images from different vendors. Twenty posteroanterior chest radiographs were collected from each of three different modalities from different vendors (GE, Siemens and Canon) with vendor-specific image processing applied. The images were also extracted with neutral process parameters and processed with external image-processing software. Six experienced radiologists rated the quality and the similarity of the images with the original Siemens images. The externally processed GE images were rated of higher quality than the original GE images and more similar to the original Siemens images (p < 0.001). The opposite was obtained for the Canon images. The externally processed Siemens images were rated of similar quality as the original images. The present study indicates the possibility of using common external image processing to harmonise the appearance of images from different vendors, although the exposure parameters may need to be adjusted for individual vendors.
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| 13. |
- Mattsson, Sören, et al.
(författare)
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Special issue: Medical imaging--optimisation in X-ray and molecular imaging.
- 2010
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Ingår i: Radiation protection dosimetry. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 1742-3406 .- 0144-8420. ; 139:1-3, s. 1-2
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Tidskriftsartikel (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This issue of Radiation Protection Dosimetry is based on contributions to the Third Malmö Conference on Medical Imaging, which was held from 25 to 27 June 2009 at the Malmö University Hospital, Sweden. The conference was jointly organised by members of current and former research projects supported by the European Commission EURATOM-Radiation Protection Research Programme.
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| 14. |
- Sund, Patrik, et al.
(författare)
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Comparison of two methods for evaluating image quality of chest radiographs
- 2010
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Ingår i: Proceedings of SPIE, the International Society for Optical Engineering. - : SPIE. - 0277-786X. ; 3977, s. 437-444
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Tidskriftsartikel (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The Imix radiography system (Qy Imix Ab, Finland)consists of an intensifying screen, optics, and a CCD camera. An upgrade of this system (Imix 2000) with a red-emitting screen and new optics has recently been released. The image quality of Imix (original version), Imix 200, and two storage-phosphor systems, Fuji FCR 9501 and Agfa ADC70 was evaluated in physical terms (DQE) and with visual grading of the visibility of anatomical structures in clinical images (141 kV). PA chest images of 50 healthy volunteers were evaluated by experienced radiologists. All images were evaluated on Siemens Simomed monitors, using the European Quality Criteria. The maximum DQE values for Imix, Imix 2000, Agfa and Fuji were 11%, 14%, 17% and 19%, respectively (141kV, 5μGy). Using the visual grading, the observers rated the systems in the following descending order. Fuji, Imix 2000, Agfa, and Imix. Thus, the upgrade to Imix 2000 resulted in higher DQE values and a significant improvement in clinical image quality. The visual grading agrees reasonably well with the DQE results; however, Imix 2000 received a better score than what could be expected from the DQE measurements.
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| 15. |
- Sund, Patrik, et al.
(författare)
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Investigation of the effect of ambient lighting on contrast sensitivity using a novel method for conducting visual research on LCDs
- 2010
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Ingår i: Radiation protection dosimetry. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 1742-3406 .- 0144-8420. ; 139:1-3, s. 62-70
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The DICOM part 14 greyscale standard display function provides one way of harmonising image appearance under different monitor luminance settings. This function is based on ideal observer conditions, where the eye is always adapted to the target luminance and thereby also at peak contrast sensitivity. Clinical workstations are, however, often submitted to variations in ambient light due to a sub-optimal reading room light environment. Also, clinical images are inhomogeneous and low-contrast patterns must be detected even at luminance levels that differ from the eye adaptation level. All deviations from ideal luminance conditions cause the observer to detect patterns with reduced eye sensitivity but the magnitude of this reduction is unclear. A method is presented to display well-defined sinusoidal low-contrast test patterns on an liquid crystal display. The observers were exposed to light from three different areas: (i) the test pattern covering approximately 2 degrees x 2 degrees ; (ii) the remaining of the display surface and (iii) ambient light from outside the display area covering most of the observers' field of view. By adjusting the luminance from each of these three areas, the observers' ability to detect low-contrast patterns under sub-optimal viewing conditions was studied. Ambient light from outside the display area has a moderate effect on the contrast threshold, except for the combination of high ambient light and dark objects, where the contrast threshold increased considerably.
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| 16. |
- Svalkvist, Angelica, et al.
(författare)
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Monte Carlo simulations of the dosimetry of chest tomosynthesis
- 2010
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Ingår i: Radiation protection dosimetry. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 1742-3406 .- 0144-8420. ; 139:1-3, s. 144-152
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The aims of this work were to explore the dosimetry of chest tomosynthesis and to determine conversion factors between air kerma-area product (KAP) and the effective dose for different system configurations and patient sizes. Tomosynthesis systems were modelled with different angular intervals and tube voltages for the collection of the projection images as well as different distributions of the total exposure over the projections. The Monte Carlo-based computer software PCXMC developed by STUK (Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority in Finland) was used to calculate the effective doses for each modelled tomosynthesis system for various patient sizes. The conversion factor between KAP and effective dose was obtained both for the zero-degree projection alone and for the entire tomosynthesis examination for each system configuration and patient size. The results reveal that the conversion factor for the zero-degree projection can be used to estimate the total effective dose from a tomosynthesis examination with acceptable accuracy, leading to an error smaller than 10 % irrespective of the system configuration and patient size. For higher accuracy, conversion factors between the total KAP and the total effective dose that take the angular interval and exposure configuration into account are presented for each system.
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| 17. |
- Svalkvist, Angelica, et al.
(författare)
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Simulation of dose reduction in tomosynthesis.
- 2010
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Ingår i: Medical physics. - : Wiley. - 0094-2405. ; 37:1, s. 258-69
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- PURPOSE: Methods for simulating dose reduction are valuable tools in the work of optimizing radiographic examinations. Using such methods, clinical images can be simulated to have been collected at other, lower, dose levels without the need of additional patient exposure. A recent technology introduced to healthcare that needs optimization is tomosynthesis, where a number of low-dose projection images collected at different angles is used to reconstruct section images of an imaged object. The aim of the present work was to develop a method of simulating dose reduction for digital radiographic systems, suitable for tomosynthesis. METHODS: The developed method uses information about the noise power spectrum (NPS) at the original dose level and the simulated dose level to create a noise image that is added to the original image to produce an image that has the same noise properties as an image actually collected at the simulated dose level. As the detective quantum efficiency (DQE) of digital detectors operating at the low dose levels used for tomosynthesis may show a strong dependency on the dose level, it is important that a method for simulating dose reduction for tomosynthesis takes this dependency into account. By applying an experimentally determined relationship between pixel mean and pixel variance, variations in both dose and DQE in relevant dose ranges are taken into account. RESULTS: The developed method was tested on a chest tomosynthesis system and was shown to produce NPS of simulated dose-reduced projection images that agreed well with the NPS of images actually collected at the simulated dose level. The simulated dose reduction method was also applied to tomosynthesis examinations of an anthropomorphic chest phantom, and the obtained noise in the reconstructed section images was very similar to that of an examination actually performed at the simulated dose level. CONCLUSIONS: In conclusion, the present article describes a method for simulating dose reduction suitable for tomosynthesis. However, the method applies equally well to any digital radiographic system, although the benefits of correcting for DQE variations may be smaller.
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| 18. |
- Svalkvist, Angelica, et al.
(författare)
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Simulation of lung nodules in chest tomosynthesis
- 2010
-
Ingår i: RADIATION PROTECTION DOSIMETRY. - : Oxford University Press. - 0144-8420 .- 1742-3406. ; 139:1-3, s. 130-139
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The aim of the present work was to develop an adequate method for simulating lung nodules in clinical chest tomosynthesis images. Based on the visual appearance of real nodules, artificial, three-dimensional nodules with irregular shape and surface structure were created using an approach of combining spheres of different sizes and central points. The nodules were virtually positioned at the desired locations inside the patient and by using the known geometry of the tomosynthesis acquisition, the radiation emitted from the focal spot, passing through the nodule and reaching the detector could be simulated. The created nodules were thereby projected into raw-data tomosynthesis projection images before reconstruction of the tomosynthesis section images. The focal spot size, signal spread in the detector, scattered radiation, patient motion and existing anatomy at the location of the nodule were taken into account in the simulations. It was found that the blurring caused by the modulation transfer function and the patient motion overshadows the effects of a finite focal spot and aliasing and also obscures the surface structure of the nodules, which provides an opportunity to simplify the simulations and decrease the simulation times. Also, the limited in-depth resolution of the reconstructed tomosynthesis section images reduces the necessity to take details of the anatomical structures at the location of the inserted nodule into account.
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| 19. |
- Svalkvist, Angelica, et al.
(författare)
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The benefit of accounting for DQE variations in simulated dose reduction of digital radiographic systems
- 2010
-
Ingår i: Radiation protection dosimetry. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 1742-3406 .- 0144-8420. ; 139:1-3, s. 57-61
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Adding noise to clinical radiographs to simulate dose reduction can be used to investigate the relationship between dose level and clinical image quality without exposing patients to additional radiation. The purpose of the present paper was to examine the benefits of using a method that accounts for detective quantum efficiency (DQE) variations that may occur in different dose ranges in the simulated dose reduction process. A method initially intended for simulated dose reduction in tomosynthesis was applied to extremely low-dose posterioanterior radiographs of an anthropomorphic chest phantom, selected from a group of projection images included in a tomosynthesis examination and compared with a previous method that do not account for DQE variations. A comparison of images simulated to be collected at a lower dose level (73 % of the original dose level) and images actually collected at this lower dose level revealed that the error in the integrated normalised noise power spectrum was smaller than 4 % for the method that accounts for DQE variations in the simulated dose reduction, whereas the error was larger than 20 % for the previous method. This indicates that an increased validity in dose reduction simulation of digital radiographic systems is obtained with a method accounting for DQE variations.
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| 20. |
- Thilander-Klang, Anne, 1959, et al.
(författare)
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Evaluation of subjective assessment of the low-contrast visibility in constancy control of computed tomography
- 2010
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Ingår i: Radiation protection dosimetry. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 1742-3406 .- 0144-8420. ; 139:1-3, s. 449-454
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The purpose of the present work was to investigate the reliability of subjective assessments of the low-contrast visibility in constancy control of computed tomography (CT). Axial CT images of a low-contrast phantom were acquired on an 8-slice multi-detector CT scanner at nine tube current settings ranging from 75 to 440 mA. Five medical physicists assessed the visibility of the low-contrast details in two sessions. In the first session, containing 54 images, the visibility was rated on an absolute scale by determining the number of visible details in each contrast group in each image. In the second session, 180 image pairs were presented to the observers with the task of determining if the two images had been acquired under identical conditions or not. In the absolute session, both the intra- and inter-observer variabilities were high. In the relative session, the variability was smaller, but an exposure difference of 50 % was needed for all observers to correctly identify a change in all cases. In conclusion, the present study indicates that subjective assessments of the low-contrast visibility in constancy control of CT are not reliable.
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