Operating at the diagnostic margins: image quality considerations.

Radiology, as the field of expert image interpretation, has always been faced with questions about the trade-offs between the diagnostic quality of images and other issues related to the care of patients. Historically, image quality has been sacrificed somewhat to reduce the cost of imaging procedures or to reduce radiation exposure of patients, for example. More recently, in order to improve access to imaging information, radiology departments have begun to replace traditional film-based methods with digital techniques, which in some cases have reduced image quality. This again raises the question of how much diagnostic quality can be sacrificed to achieve a competing benefit for the patient (i.e., improved access to the image data).