Offiah A C, Hall C M
Institute of Child Health, 30 Guilford Street, London WC1N 1EH, UK.
Br J Radiol. 2003 Dec;76(912):885-90. doi: 10.1259/bjr/57437508.
The study aimed to evaluate the Commission of the European Communities (CEC) quality criteria for paediatric lateral spine radiographs, and to use these to assess and compare the quality of film-screen and digital images. 286 paediatric lateral spine radiographs (89 film-screen and 197 digital) were independently analysed by two observers according to the CEC criteria. Based on fulfilment of criteria, images were assigned two scores, an image criteria score and a visual grading analysis score. Sensitivity values (S) on digital radiographs were recorded and correlated with image quality. Variability for assignment of scores between observers was lower for the image criteria than the visual grading analysis technique. Analysis of variance for fulfilment of criteria between techniques, and (for digital images) age and sensitivity values was calculated. Film-screen did significantly better (p<0.05) than digital imaging for Criterion 6 (visually sharp reproduction of the cortex and trabecular markings consistent with age), but significantly worse for Criterion 7 (reproduction of the adjacent soft tissues). There was a significant difference in mean S values for each age group when Criterion 6 was or was not met. Results show that although interpretation between two observers was ambiguous, the CEC criteria were able to detect differences in quality of film-screen and digital images. It is also possible to use them when optimizing target S values.
该研究旨在评估欧洲共同体委员会（CEC）制定的小儿脊柱侧位X线片质量标准，并运用这些标准评估和比较胶片-屏片成像与数字成像的质量。两名观察者根据CEC标准对286张小儿脊柱侧位X线片（89张胶片-屏片成像和197张数字成像）进行了独立分析。根据标准的满足情况，图像被赋予两个分数，即图像标准分数和视觉分级分析分数。记录数字X线片的敏感度值（S），并将其与图像质量相关联。观察者之间在图像标准分数的赋值上的变异性低于视觉分级分析技术。计算了不同技术之间、（针对数字图像）年龄和敏感度值之间在标准满足情况方面的方差分析。对于标准6（与年龄相符的皮质和小梁标记的视觉清晰再现），胶片-屏片成像明显优于数字成像（p<0.05），但对于标准7（相邻软组织的再现）则明显较差。当标准6满足或不满足时，各年龄组的平均S值存在显著差异。结果表明，尽管两名观察者之间的解读存在模糊性，但CEC标准能够检测出胶片-屏片成像和数字成像在质量上的差异。在优化目标S值时也可以使用这些标准。
