2000 Volume 20 Issue 1 Pages 33-38
The purpose of this study was to compare a new digital chest radiography based on a selenium detector with dual-emulsion screen-film radiography and scanning equalization radiography for the visualization of various normal anatomic structures. Three observers analyzed image sets of posteroanterior chest radiographs of 10 healthy volunteers. Each observer rated relative visibility of normal anatomic structures. Statistical significance was evaluated with a one-tailed t test. Visibility with the digital images was significantly increased for all anatomic regions compared with dual-emulsion screen-film radiography. For 3 of 9 anatomic structures including the unobscured lung, observers indicated a significant increase in visibility with the selenium-based digital radiographs compared with scanning equalization radiographs. However, readers also indicated a significant decrease in visibility of 5 of 9 regions, including the mediastinum and the obscured lung, for the selenium-based images. Score for overall visibility was not significantly different between the digital and scanning equalization radiographs. Subjective visibility of normal anatomic structures in the thorax was significantly improved with selenium-based digital chest radiography compared with dual-emulsion screen-film chest radiography. Although the digital system was slightly inferior to the scanning equalization technique in visualization of the poorly penetrated regions, selenium-based digital chest radiography is promising especially for implementation of the picture archiving and communication system.
