Psychophysical studies of detection errors in chest radiology.

In 62 of 124 cases analyzed, there occurred a failure to detect a pulmonary nodule which was retrospectively noted only after detection at a subsequent examination. The characteristics of the lesions and their surrounds were measured, and a computer analysis used, to identify that combination of parameters (the conspicuity, K) which was best capable of separating the group into populations of missed and detected lesions.