Evaluating estimation techniques in medical imaging without a gold standard: experimental validation

John W. Hoppin; Matthew A. Kupinski; Donald W. Wilson; Todd E. Peterson; Benjamin Gershman; George Kastis; Eric Clarkson; Lars Furenlid; Harrison H. Barrett

doi:10.1117/12.480330

Translator Disclaimer

22 May 2003 Evaluating estimation techniques in medical imaging without a gold standard: experimental validation

John W. Hoppin, Matthew A. Kupinski, Donald W. Wilson, Todd E. Peterson, Benjamin Gershman, George Kastis, Eric Clarkson, Lars Furenlid, Harrison H. Barrett

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 5034, Medical Imaging 2003: Image Perception, Observer Performance, and Technology Assessment; (2003) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.480330
Event: Medical Imaging 2003, 2003, San Diego, California, United States

Abstract

Imaging is often used for the purpose of estimating the value of some parameter of interest. For example, a cardiologist may measure the ejection fraction (EF) of the heart to quantify how much blood is being pumped out of the heart on each stroke. In clinical practice, however, it is difficult to evaluate an estimation method because the gold standard is not known, e.g., a cardiologist does not know the true EF of a patient. An estimation method is typically evaluated by plotting its results against the results of another (more accepted) estimation method. This approach results in the use of one set of estimates as the pseudo-gold standard. We have developed a maximum-likelihood approach for comparing different estimation methods to the gold standard without the use of the gold standard. In previous works we have displayed the results of numerous simulation studies indicating the method can precisely and accurately estimate the parameters of a regression line without a gold standard, i.e., without the x-axis. In an attempt to further validate our method we have designed an experiment performing volume estimation using a physical phantom and two imaging systems (SPECT< CT).

Citation Download Citation

John W. Hoppin, Matthew A. Kupinski, Donald W. Wilson, Todd E. Peterson, Benjamin Gershman, George Kastis, Eric Clarkson, Lars Furenlid, and Harrison H. Barrett "Evaluating estimation techniques in medical imaging without a gold standard: experimental validation", Proc. SPIE 5034, Medical Imaging 2003: Image Perception, Observer Performance, and Technology Assessment, (22 May 2003); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.480330

ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE