Masahiro Yakami MD, Presenter: Nothing to Disclose

Morio Yanagisawa, Abstract Co-Author: Nothing to Disclose

Hiroyuki Sekiguchi, Abstract Co-Author: Nothing to Disclose

Takeshi Kubo MD, Abstract Co-Author: Nothing to Disclose

Kaori Togashi MD, PhD, Abstract Co-Author: Nothing to Disclose

To verify the rate of slice omission and tearing artifacts during paging on picture archiving and communication systems (PACS) viewers objectively by recording the images shown on computer displays for these viewers using a high-speed movie camera.

This study was approved by the institutional review board. A DICOM data series was created for the experimentation. A sequential number from 1 to 250 was superimposed on each slice of the series. The slices were displayed using several DICOM viewers, consisting of in-house developed freeware and clinical PACS viewers. The freeware and one of the clinical PACS viewers had functions to prevent slice dropping and tearing artifacts. The series was displayed in stack-mode, and paged in both automatic and manual paging modes. During paging, the display was recorded using a high-speed digital movie camera and the recordings were saved as movie files without compression. The movies were played back at slow speeds to check whether slices were dropped and whether slices had tearing artifacts. The paging speeds were also measured.

If the paging speed was faster than half of the refresh rate of the display, some viewers dropped up to 51.6% of the slices, while others did not if used with the correct settings. Some viewers caused tearing artifacts regardless of the paging speed, while others did not if used with the correct settings.

Slice dropping during paging was confirmed objectively using a high-speed movie camera. To prevent slice dropping, the viewer must be specially designed for the purpose and must be used with the correct settings, or the paging speed must be slower than half of the display refresh rate. Ocurrance of tearing arficacts was also confirmed objectively. To prevent tearing artifacts, the viewer must be specially designed for the purpose.

To prevent misdiagnosis caused by slice dropping, the viewer must be specially designed for the purpose, or the paging speed used must be slower than half of the refresh rate of the display.

Yakami, M, Yanagisawa, M, Sekiguchi, H, Kubo, T, Togashi, K, Evaluation of Slice Dropping in Clinical Image Interpretation with Stack-Mode Viewers Using a High-Speed Movie Camera and Development of Countermeasure Techniques.  Radiological Society of North America 2012 Scientific Assembly and Annual Meeting, November 25 - November 30, 2012 ,Chicago IL. http://archive.rsna.org/2012/12020142.html