Effects of image processing on nodule detection rates in digital chest radiography

Although chest radiography remains the most frequently performed radiologic procedure, studies of nodule detection on chest radiography continue to show error rates of 30%. Digital chest radiography has already shown advantages over conventional film radiography in several areas. The author have developed an image processing technique that improves the visibility of lung nodules lying over the heart and diaphragm on radiographs. The author present the results of a nodule detection study comparing our technique, adaptive filtration, and histogram equalization, a widely used image processing technique, in the detection of subtle pulmonary nodules