title: Evaluation of the usefulness of color digital summation radiography in temporally sequential digital radiographs: a phantom study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The purpose of this study was to assess the usefulness of color digital summation radiography (CDSR) for detection of nodules on chest radiographs by observers with different levels of experience.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 30 radiographs of chest phantoms with abnormalities and 30 normal ones were arranged at random. Set A was conventional radiographs only. Set B consisted of both conventional radiographs and CDSR images, which were colored with magenta. Five chest radiologists and five residents evaluated both image sets on a TFT monitor. The observers were asked to rate each image set using a continuous rating scale. The reading time for each set was also recorded.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In set A, the performance of chest radiologists was significantly superior to that of the residents (P < 0.05). However, in set B, there was no significant difference in the performance of the chest radiologists and the residents. In both observer groups, the mean reading time per case in set B was significantly shorter than that in set A (P < 0.01).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  By using CDSR, the detection capability of observers with little experience improves and is comparable to that of experienced observers. Moreover, the reading time becomes much shorter using CDSR.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Physics, Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, 1-7 Yamadaoka, Suita, Osaka 565-0871, Japan. ogata@sahs.med.Osaka-u.ac.jp
authors.forename: Yuji
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ogata
authors.forename: Hiroaki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Naito
authors.forename: Noriyuki
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Tomiyama
authors.forename: Seiki
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hamada
authors.forename: Takenori
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kozuka
authors.forename: Mitsuhiro
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Koyama
authors.forename: Mitusko
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tsubamoto
authors.forename: Sachiko
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Murai
authors.forename: Takashi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ueguchi
authors.forename: Mitsuhiro
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Matsumoto
authors.forename: Shinichi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Tamura
authors.forename: Hironobu
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Nakamura
authors.forename: Takeshi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Johkoh
mesh_terms: D003116:Color; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D015588:Observer Variation; D019047:Phantoms, Imaging; D011856:Radiographic Image Enhancement / Q000379:methods*; D013902:Radiography, Thoracic / Q000379:methods*; D011897:Random Allocation; D003074:Solitary Pulmonary Nodule / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*