Comparison of the diagnostic performance of a CAD system for automatic detection of pulmonary nodules with single and double reading and its dependency on nodule size

Florian Beyer; Dag Wormanns; Stefan Diederich; Karl Ludwig; Walter Heindel

doi:10.1117/12.592130

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6 April 2005 Comparison of the diagnostic performance of a CAD system for automatic detection of pulmonary nodules with single and double reading and its dependency on nodule size

Florian Beyer, Dag Wormanns, Stefan Diederich, Karl Ludwig, Walter Heindel

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Proceedings Volume 5749, Medical Imaging 2005: Image Perception, Observer Performance, and Technology Assessment; (2005) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.592130
Event: Medical Imaging, 2005, San Diego, California, United States

Abstract

Objective: Assess the performance of a computer aided diagnosis (CAD) system for automatic detection of pulmonary nodules at CT scans compared to single and double reading by radiologists. Material and methods: A nodule detection CAD system (Siemens LungCare NEV VB10) was applied to low-dose-CT (LDCT) scans of nine patients with pulmonary metastases and compared to findings of three radiologists; standard-dose-CT (SDCT) was acquired simultaneously to establish ground truth. Study design was approved by the Institutional Review Board and the appropriate German authorities. Ground truth was established by fusion of sets of detected nodules from independent reading by three radiologists at LDCT and SDCT scans and CAD results. Special focus was taken on the size of nodules detected only by CAD compared to the size of all detected nodules. Results: Average sensitivity of 54% (range 51-55%) was observed for single reading by one radiologist. Application of the CAD system demonstrated a similar sensitivity of 55%. Double reading by two radiologists increased sensitivity to an average of 67% (range 67-68%). The difference to single reading was significant (p<0.001). Use of CAD as second opinion after single reading increased the sensitivity to 79% (range 77-81%) which proved to be significantly better than double reading (p<0.001). 11% of nodules with a size of more than 4 mm were detected only by CAD. Conclusion: CAD as second reader offered a significant increase in sensitivity compared to conventional double reading. Therefore, CAD is a valuable second opinion for the detection of pulmonary nodules.

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Florian Beyer, Dag Wormanns, Stefan Diederich, Karl Ludwig, and Walter Heindel "Comparison of the diagnostic performance of a CAD system for automatic detection of pulmonary nodules with single and double reading and its dependency on nodule size", Proc. SPIE 5749, Medical Imaging 2005: Image Perception, Observer Performance, and Technology Assessment, (6 April 2005); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.592130

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