Detectability of simulated pulmonary nodules on chest radiographs: comparison between irradiation side sampling indirect flat-panel detector and computed radiography.

OBJECTIVE: To compare the detectability of simulated pulmonary nodules on chest radiographs between an irradiation side sampling indirect flat-panel detector (ISS-FPD) and computed radiography (CR).

MATERIALS AND METHODS: This study was an observer performance study. Simulated pulmonary nodules of 8 mm in diameter were superimposed on an anthropomorphic chest phantom. Chest radiographs were acquired under 2 exposure levels (4 and 3.2 mAs) with the ISS-FPD and the CR. Six thoracic radiologists evaluated all 40 images (10 patterns × 2 different exposure doses × 2 different systems) for the presence or absence of a lesion over each of 12 defined areas on a 3-megapixel monochrome liquid-crystal display. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were obtained for observation in predefined 480 areas. A jackknife method was used for statistical analysis. Differences with a P value of <0.05 were considered significant.

RESULTS: The analysis of the observer detection of simulated pulmonary nodules showed larger areas under the ROC curve (AUC) by the ISS-FPD than by the CR. There was a statistically significant difference between the two systems at 3.2 mAs (P=0.0330).

CONCLUSION: The ISS-FPD was superior to the CR for the detection of simulated pulmonary nodules at 3.2 mAs.