Detection of experimentally induced lesions in subtraction images of cancellous alveolar bone.

Cancellous bone lesions of varying sizes were made in specimens of human mandibles and radiographed under geometrically reproducible conditions and observed by viewing of before and after radiographs and subtraction images. Of 178 lesions, traditional comparison of before and after radiographs resulted in 108 correct diagnoses. Analysis of the same lesions by subtraction radiography resulted in 162 (91%) correct diagnoses. This difference in diagnostic accuracy with the use of these two methods of radiographic analyses was significant at the p = 0.0001 level.