title: Detection of simulated chest lesions by using soft-copy reading: comparison of an amorphous silicon flat-panel-detector system and a storage-phosphor system.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To compare observer performance by using soft-copy images produced by an amorphous silicon flat-panel-detector system and a storage-phosphor system for the detection of simulated chest lesions.
  
  
  METHODS
  To test the diagnostic performance of these two systems, four types of simulated lesions (nodules, micronodules, lines, and reticular opacities) were superimposed over an anthropomorphic chest phantom. Digital chest radiographs were acquired with amorphous silicon flat-panel-detector (3-K [K = 1,000] matrix, 12 bits) and storage-phosphor radiography (4-K matrix, 10 bits). Six board-certified radiologists evaluated soft-copy images on a high-resolution video monitor (2,048 x 2,560 x 8 bits). A total of 14,400 observations were analyzed in terms of receiver operating characteristics.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Average performance in terms of nodule detection was significantly better (P <.05) with the flat-panel-detector system than with the storage-phosphor system. For micronodules, lines, and reticular opacities, no significant detection differences in averaged performance were found between the two detector systems.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In the evaluation of soft-copy images, the amorphous silicon detector system appears to be superior to the storage-phosphor system for the detection of pulmonary nodules.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Seoul National University College of Medicine and the Institute of Radiation Medicine, SNUMRC, Clinical Research Institute, 28 Yongon-dong, Chongno-gu, Seoul 110-744, Korea.
authors.forename: Jin Mo
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Goo
authors.forename: Jung-Gi
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Im
authors.forename: Hyun Ju
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Myung Jin
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Chung
authors.forename: Joon Beom
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Seo
authors.forename: Hyae Young
authors.initials: HY
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Yu-Jin
authors.initials: YJ
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Joon-Won
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Kang
authors.forename: Jong Hyo
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Kim
mesh_terms: D008171:Lung Diseases / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D019047:Phantoms, Imaging; D011859:Radiography; D011873:Radiology Information Systems; D012825:Silicon
chemical_list: D012825:Silicon