J Korean Radiol Soc.  2002 Dec;47(6):601-605. 10.3348/jkrs.2002.47.6.601.

The Diagnosis of Small Solitary Pulmonary Nodule: Comparison of Standard and Inverse Digital Images on a High-Resolution Monitor using ROC Analysis

• Choi BK
• Lee IS
• Seo JB
• Lee JS
• Song KS
• Lim TH

• KMID: 2103678
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.3348/jkrs.2002.47.6.601

Abstract

PURPOSE
To study the impact of inversion of soft-copy chest radiographs on the detection of small solitary pulmonary nodules using a high-resolution monitor.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
The study group consisted of 80 patients who had undergone posterior chest radiography; 40 had a solitary noncalcified pulmonary nodule approximately 1 cm in diameter, and 40 were control subjects. Standard and inverse digital images using the inversion tool on a PACS system were displayed on high-resolution monitors (2048x2560x8 bit). Ten radiologists were requested to rank each image using a five-point scale (1=definitely negative, 3=equivocal or indeterminate, 5=definite nodule), and the data were interpreted using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis.
RESULTS
The area under the ROC curve for pooled data of standard image sets was significantly larger than that of inverse image sets (0.8893 and 0.8095, respectively; p<0.05). Interpretation of both standard and inversion images did not lead to more accurate detection of small pulmonary nodules (area under the ROC curve: 0.8835 and 0.8893, respectively; p>0.05).
CONCLUSION
For detecting small solitary pulmonary nodules, inverse digital images were significantly inferior to standard digital images.

Keyword

Diagnostic radiology, observer performance; Lung, nodule; Radiography, digital

MeSH Terms

Diagnosis*
Humans
Radiographic Image Enhancement
Radiography
Radiography, Thoracic
ROC Curve*
Solitary Pulmonary Nodule*
Thorax