Dear Digital X-Ray Insider,
It's possible that if computer-aided detection (CAD) software ever becomes part of the routine diagnostic workflow for digital x-ray, it won't just be used for a single application. Radiologists of the future may use a single CAD program that scans for multiple pathologies in digital x-ray images.
With that in mind, a research group from the University of Chicago sought to test the ability of their CAD algorithm to find suspicious areas in two types of pathology: lung nodules and vertebral fractures. Their work is the subject of this edition's Insider Exclusive.
The researchers picked lung nodules for an obvious reason -- most CAD software for digital x-ray targets lung cancer. But they chose vertebral fractures out of the belief that this pathology is underdiagnosed on chest x-ray and can be a precursor to osteoporosis. Learn more by clicking here.
In other news, researchers from Pakistan found that implementing digital x-ray can lower retake rates at large academic facilities. They compared retake rates before and after the installation of computed radiography systems throughout their facility.
Their findings indicate that digital x-ray can confer enough efficiency benefits that it offsets the technology's capital acquisition cost -- even at hospitals in developing countries. Find out how they did it by clicking here.
While we're on the topic of radiography in developing countries, click here to read the results of a study that found that radiation dose in many nations is higher than necessary -- due in large measure to repeat procedures.
Also learn about the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's proposal to change the regulatory path for full-field digital mammography systems. And finally, learn about a study that hints that the error rate for radiograph interpretations decreases with experience.
If you have any tips or ideas on topics you'd like to see covered in the Digital X-Ray Community, drop me a line at [email protected].
