Stereo display of CT images for lung cancer screening: a pilot study

To improve radiologist's performance in lesion detection and diagnosis on 3D medical image dataset, we have conducted a pilot study to test viability and efficiency of the stereo display for lung nodule detection and classification. Using our previously developed stereo compositing methods, stereo image pairs were prestaged and precalculated from CT slices for real-time interactive display. Three display modes (i.e., stereoscopic 3D, orthogonal MIP and slice-by-slice) were compared for lung nodule detection and total of eight radiologists have participated this pilot study to interpret the images. The performance of lung nodule detection was analyzed and compared between the modes using FROC analysis. Subjective assessment indicates that stereo display was well accepted by the radiologists, despite some uncertainty of beneficial results due to the novelty of the display. The FROC analysis indicates a trend that, among the three display modes, stereo display resulted in the best performance of nodule detection followed by slice-based display, although no statistically significant difference was shown between the three modes. The stereo display of a stack of thin CT slices has the potential to clarify three-dimensional structures, while avoiding ambiguities due to tissue superposition. Few studies, however, have addressed actual utility of stereo display for medical diagnosis. Our preliminary results suggest a potential role of stereo display for improving radiologists' performance in medical detection and diagnosis, and also indicate some factors likely affect the performance with new display, such as novelty of the display, training effect from projected radiography interpretation and confidence with the new technology.