Vergleich unterschiedlicher Bildwiedergabegeräte bei der Erkennung von Niedrigkontrastdetails in digitalen Radiographien

Purpose: Assessment of low-contrast details in digital radiographs on different review displays (RD). Materials und Methods: 20" flat screen panels (RD1: standard color LCD-TFT, RD2: monochrome LCD-TFT for radiological reading, RD1*: RD1 with optional image inversion; 205 cd/m 2 luminance, respectively) were evaluated. At 30 lx ambient lighting, 10 radiologists gradually increased the contrast (constant steps) for both a homogeneous picture and a cutout of a thorax radiography of n = 480 simulated nodules until they became recognizable. Results: In the case of bright nodules on an anthropomorphic background, the use of image inversion produced significantly better results. No other significant differences were detected. Conclusion: Provided that the working environment is not bright, the results suggest that low-cost RD can be used for the recognition of low-contrast details in radiographies of the chest. Further studies including more display models are necessary. Among different ambient lighting and luminance settings, these studies should include a closer analysis of the special features of digital systems such as brightness/contrast adaptation, picture enlargement (zoom shot), and image inversion.