What is worse: decreased spatial resolution or increased noise?

Anders Tingberg; Clemens Herrmann; Jack Besjakov; Anja Almen; Patrik Sund; Diana Adliene; Saron Mattsson; Lars Gunnar Mansson; Werner Panzer

doi:10.1117/12.462695

12 April 2002 What is worse: decreased spatial resolution or increased noise?

Anders Tingberg, Clemens Herrmann, Jack Besjakov, Anja Almen, Patrik Sund, Diana Adliene, Saron Mattsson, Lars Gunnar Mansson, Werner Panzer

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 4686, Medical Imaging 2002: Image Perception, Observer Performance, and Technology Assessment; (2002) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.462695
Event: Medical Imaging 2002, 2002, San Diego, California, United States

Abstract

Purpose: To investigate the relative importance of spatial resolution and noise on the image quality of clinical radiographs. Methods: The spatial resolution and noise of fifteen digitized lumbar spine radiographs were altered with image processing. Three different MTF curves and three different Wiener spectra were combined into seven different combinations of spatial resolution and noise. These seven combinations were applied to the original data set, and the resulting images were printed on film. Seven expert radiologists evaluated the clinical image quality of the resulting images with visual grading analysis (VGA) of structures based on the European Image Criteria. Results: The results show that added noise is more deteriorating than reduced spatial resolution for the clinical image quality. For a given MTF and noise level, the worst was the one with increased noise followed by the one with both reduced MTF and added noise (mimicking a faster screen-film combination). Reduced MTF only gave the highest rating. Conclusions: It is more important to find methods for removing noise than to try to improve the MTF of a radiographic system. A noisy image can sometimes be improved by reducing the spatial resolution.

Citation Download Citation

Anders Tingberg, Clemens Herrmann, Jack Besjakov, Anja Almen, Patrik Sund, Diana Adliene, Saron Mattsson, Lars Gunnar Mansson, and Werner Panzer "What is worse: decreased spatial resolution or increased noise?", Proc. SPIE 4686, Medical Imaging 2002: Image Perception, Observer Performance, and Technology Assessment, (12 April 2002); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.462695

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