Detection of simulated chest lesions by using soft-copy reading: Comparison of an amorphous silicon flat-panel-detector system and a storage-phosphor system

PURPOSE: 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. MATERIALS AND 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. CONCLUSION: 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. (C) RSNA 2002.