Korean J Radiol.  2011 Apr;12(2):145-155. 10.3348/kjr.2011.12.2.145.

A Computer-Aided Diagnosis for Evaluating Lung Nodules on Chest CT: the Current Status and Perspective

• Goo JM

• KMID: 1088558
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.3348/kjr.2011.12.2.145

Abstract

As the detection and characterization of lung nodules are of paramount importance in thoracic radiology, various tools for making a computer-aided diagnosis (CAD) have been developed to improve the diagnostic performance of radiologists in clinical practice. Numerous studies over the years have shown that the CAD system can effectively help readers identify more nodules. Moreover, nodule malignancy and the response of malignant lung tumors to treatment can also be assessed using nodule volumetry. CAD also has the potential to objectively analyze the morphology of nodules and enhance the workflow during the assessment of follow-up studies. Therefore, understanding the current status and limitations of CAD for evaluating lung nodules is essential to effectively apply CAD in clinical practice.

Keyword

Computed tomography (CT); Lung nodule; Computer-aided diagnosis; Volumetry; Follow-up

MeSH Terms

Clinical Trials as Topic
*Diagnosis, Computer-Assisted
Diagnosis, Differential
Humans
Lung Neoplasms/pathology/*radiography
Predictive Value of Tests
Radiographic Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted
Radiography, Thoracic
Sensitivity and Specificity
Solitary Pulmonary Nodule/pathology/*radiography
*Tomography, X-Ray Computed

Figure

• 

  Fig. 1 Snapshot of computer-aided diagnosis output for lung nodule. Detected nodule is marked with circle, and information about nodule size is present in bottom of left panel. Magnified views of detected nodule are presented in right panel with color overlay to show segmentation results.

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  Fig. 2 Examples of isolated (A) and vascular-attached (B) nodules detected by computer-aided diagnosis system.

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  Fig. 3 Example of false-positive detection by computer-aided diagnosis due to mucus within bronchus.

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  Fig. 4 Example of ground-glass nodule detected by computer-aided diagnosis system.

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  Fig. 5 Examples of excellent (A) and satisfactory but not perfect (B) segmentation in nodule volumetry. Color overlay of B shows that part of nodule in contact with pleura is incompletely segmented.

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