| 1. |
- Albin, Maria, et al.
(författare)
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Chest x ray films from construction workers: International Labour Office (ILO 1980) classification compared with routine readings
- 1992
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Ingår i: British Journal of Industrial Medicine. - 0007-1072. ; 49:12, s. 862-868
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The extent of agreement between International Labour Office (ILO) and clinical readings of chest x ray films from construction workers was studied. From a survey of 5898 workers 258 subjects with a profusion of small opacities of > or = 1/1 and a stratified sample of subjects with profusion < 1/1 were selected. Only 41% of the films classified as ILO profusion category > or = 1/1 were clinically recorded as non-normal for the parenchyma. The proportion of films recorded as pneumoconiotic (or possibly so) was especially low for irregular opacities (22%), but increased with the profusion category (both rounded and irregular) as well as with the size of rounded opacities (p 3/11, q 12/25, r 3/4). Only with the profusion category > or = 2/1 were most of the films recorded as pneumoconiotic. The specificity and sensitivity were highest in the geographical areas where a few clinical readers had assessed many films each. The proportion of false negative clinical reports was low for circumscribed pleural thickening of the chest wall (9%) and diaphragmatic pleural thickening (6%). For calcified pleural changes and for the combination of diffuse pleural thickening and obliteration of the costophrenic angle, false negative reports were absent. The present study shows an unsatisfactory sensitivity for clinical compared with ILO readings as a means for screening the parenchyma of workers with a risk of pneumoconiosis.
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| 2. |
- Båth, Magnus, 1974, et al.
(författare)
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Investigation of image components affecting the detection of lung nodules in digital chest radiography
- 2005
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Ingår i: Progress in Biomedical Optics and Imaging - Proceedings of SPIE. - : SPIE. - 1605-7422. ; 5749, s. 231-242
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Tidskriftsartikel (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The aim of this work was to investigate and quantify the effects of system noise, nodule location, anatomical noise and anatomical background on the detection of lung nodules in different regions of the chest x-ray. Simulated lung nodules of diameter 10 mm but with varying detail contrast were randomly positioned in four different kinds of images: 1) clinical images collected with a 200 speed CR system, 2) images containing only system noise (including quantum noise) at the same level as the clinical images, 3) clinical images with removed anatomical noise, 4) artificial images with similar power spectrum as the clinical images but random phase spectrum. An ROC study was conducted with 5 observers. The detail contrast needed to obtain an Az of 0.80, C0.8, was used as measure of detectability. Five different regions of the chest x-ray were investigated separately. The C0.8 of the system noise images ranged from only 2% (the hilar regions) to 20% (the lateral pulmonary regions) of those of the clinical images. Compared with the original clinical images, the C0.8 was 16% lower for the de-noised clinical images and 71% higher for the random phase images, respectively, averaged over all five regions. In conclusion, regarding the detection of lung nodules with a diameter of 10 mm, the system noise is of minor importance at clinically relevant dose levels. The removal of anatomical noise and other noise sources uncorrelated from image to image leads to somewhat better detection, but the major component disturbing the detection is the overlapping of recognizable structures, which are, however, the main aspect of an x-ray image.
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| 3. |
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| 4. |
- Lanhede, B., et al.
(författare)
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The Influence of Different Technique Factors on Image Quality for Chest Radiographs: Application of the Recent CEC Image Quality Criteria
- 2000
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Ingår i: Radiation Protection Dosimetry. - 1742-3406. ; 90:1-2, s. 203-206
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The aim of the first this work part of the EU-project, Trial I, was to evaluate and possibly improve the CEC image criteria for radiographic chest images. Chest images of healthy volunteers were acquired using different technique factors. The image criteria were used as a tool to discriminate between the different images. The technique factors were chosen so that the image quality would differ slightly. Four different technique parameters, each with two possible settings, used in clinical practice today, were used: tube voltage - 102 and 141 kV; screen/film speed - 160 and 320; maximum optical density in the parenchyma - 1.3 and 1.8; method for scatter reduction - air gap 30/390 and moving grid40/12. The results showed that the image criteria were able to separate between different technique groups. Some conclusions can be drawn from the results Optical density 1.8 was better than 1.3 independent of the other parameters. . Among the six combinations ranked best , four used tube voltage 141 kV and four used air gap technique for scatter reduction. No difference was seen for screen/film speed. No correlation was seen between the ranking of the systems and patient dose.
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| 5. |
- Sandborg, Michael, 1961-, et al.
(författare)
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Demonstration of correlations between clinical and physical image quality measures in chest and lumbar spine screen-film radiography
- 2001
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Ingår i: British Journal of Radiology. - : British Institute of Radiology. - 0007-1285 .- 1748-880X. ; 74:882, s. 520-528
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The ability to predict clinical image quality from physical measures is useful for optimization in diagnostic radiology. In this work, clinical and physical assessments of image quality are compared and correlations between the two are derived. Clinical assessment has been made by a group of expert radiologists who evaluated fulfilment of the European image criteria for chest and lumbar spine radiography using two scoring methods: image criteria score (ICS) and visual grading analysis score (VGAS). Physical image quality measures were calculated using a Monte Carlo simulation model of the complete imaging system. This model includes a voxelized male anatomy and was used to calculate contrast and signal-to-noise ratio of various important anatomical details and measures of dynamic range. Correlations between the physical image quality measures on the one hand and the ICS and VGAS on the other were sought. 16 chest and 4 lumbar spine imaging system configurations were compared in frontal projection. A statistically significant correlation with clinical image quality was found in chest posteroanterior radiography for the contrast of blood vessels in the retrocardiac area and a measure of useful dynamic range. In lumbar spine anteroposterior radiography, a similar significant correlation with clinical image quality was found between the contrast and signal-to-noise ratio of the trabecular structures in the L1-L5 vertebrae. The significant correlation shows that clinical image quality can, at least in some cases, be predicted from appropriate measures of physical image quality.
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| 6. |
- Sund, P., et al.
(författare)
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Comparison of two methods for evaluating image quality of chest radiographs
- 2000
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Ingår i: Proceedings of SPIE. - : SPIE. ; 3981, s. 251-258
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- A set of 15 analog chest images was digitized with a high performance scanner and manipulated in terms of noise and resolution to yield three sets of images; the original plus two with different noise and resolution properties. These sets were evaluated with Visual Grading Analysis (VGA) where the observer rates the visibility of certain normal anatomical structures (as described by the European Quality Criteria) compared to a reference image. One of the non-manipulated digitized images was used in an ROC-related method – the Free response Forced Error experiment. Simulated lesions of different contrast and size were randomly superimposed on 50 copies of this image. The images were then manipulated in the same way as the images used for VGA. All observations were done by a group of seven expert radiologists from six different European countries and all images were printed back to film before evaluation. The ranking of the image manipulations was the same for the two methods. Although a strong correlation cannot be predicted with only three sets of images, it is encouraging that the simpler VGA study in some cases might be used as a replacement for the more time- and effort-consuming ROC analysis.
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| 7. |
- Tingberg, Anders, et al.
(författare)
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Comparison of two methods for evaluation of the image quality of lumbar spine radiographs
- 2000
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Ingår i: Radiation Protection Dosimetry. - 1742-3406. ; 90:1, s. 165-168
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Two methods for visual evaluation of image quality of clinical radiographs have been compared. In visual grading analysis (VGA) specified anatomical structures in an image are visually compared with the same structures in a reference image, and in a free-response forced error (FFE) experiment - an extension of conventional ROC (receiver operating characteristics) analysis - the objective is to correctly localise known lesions. The spatial resolution and noise of digitised clinical radiographs of the lumbar spine were altered by image processing, and pathological structures were added to the images for the FFE experiment. The images were printed to film and evaluated by seven European expert radiologists using VGA and FFE. The results of these two different methods showed a very good agreement. In conclusion, VGA methodology can be made as solid as the FFE experiment for evaluating image quality. The simplicity of VGA makes it very suitable for implementation in clinical practice.
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| 8. |
- Tingberg, Anders, et al.
(författare)
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The influence of the characteristic curve on the clinical image quality and patient absorbed dose in lumbar spine radiography
- 2001
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Ingår i: Proceedings of SPIE. - : SPIE. - 0819440108 ; 4324, s. 41503-41503
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- The 'European Guidelines on Quality Criteria for Diagnostic Radiographic Images' do not address the choice of film characteristic (H/D) curve, which is an important parameter for the description of a radiographic screen-film system. Since it is not possible to investigate this influence by taking repeated exposures of the same patients on films with systematically varied H/D curves, patient images of lumbar spine were digitised in the current study. The image contrast was altered by digital image processing techniques, simulating images with H/D curves varying from flat over standard latitude to a film type steeper than a mammography film. The manipulated images were printed on film for evaluation. Seven European radiologists evaluated the clinical image quality of in total 224 images by analysing the fulfilment of the European Image Criteria and by visual grading analysis of the images. The results show that the local quality can be significantly improved by the application of films with a steeper film H/D curve compared to the standard latitude film. For images with an average optical density of about 1.25, the application of the steeper film results in a reduction of patient absorbed dose by about 10-15% without a loss of diagnostically relevant image information. The results also show that the patient absorbed dose reduction obtained by altering the tube voltage from 70 kV to 90 kV coincides with a loss of image information that cannot be compensated for by simply changing the shape of the H/D curve.
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