Samei, Ehsan

Background The rapid development and complexity of new x‐ray computed tomography (CT) technologies and the need for evidence‐based optimization of image quality with respect to radiation and contrast media dose call for an updated approach towards CT performance evaluation. Aims This report offers updated testing guidelines for testing CT systems with an enhanced focus on the operational performance including iterative reconstructions and automatic exposure control (AEC) techniques. Materials and Methods The report was developed based on a comprehensive review of best methods and practices in the scientific literature. The detailed methods include the assessment of 1) CT noise (magnitude, texture, nonuniformity, inhomogeneity), 2) resolution (task transfer function under varying conditions and its scalar reflections), 3) task‐based performance (detectability, estimability), and 4) AEC performance (spatial, noise, and mA concordance of attenuation and exposure modulation). The methods include varying reconstruction and tube current modulation conditions, standardized testing protocols, and standardized quantities and metrology to facilitate tracking, benchmarking, and quantitative comparisons. Results The methods, implemented in cited publications, are robust to provide a representative reflection of CT system performance as used operationally in a clinical facility. The methods include recommendations for phantoms and phantom image analysis. Discussion In line with the current professional trajectory of the field toward quantitation and operational engagement, the stated methods offer quantitation that is more predictive of clinical performance than specification‐based approaches. They can pave the way to approach performance testing of new CT systems not only in terms of acceptance testing (i.e., verifying a device meets predefined specifications), but also system commissioning (i.e., determining how the system can be used most effectively in clinical practice). Conclusion We offer a set of common testing procedures that can be utilized towards the optimal clinical utilization of CT imaging devices, benchmarking across varying systems and times, and a basis to develop future performance‐based criteria for CT imaging.

Derived from 2 yr of deliberations and community engagement, Medical Physics 3.0 ( MP 3.0) is an effort commissioned by the American Association of Physicists in Medicine ( AAPM ) to devise a framework of strategies by which medical physicists can maintain and improve their integral roles in, and contributions to, health care and its innovation under conditions of rapid change and uncertainty. Toward that goal, MP 3.0 advocates a broadened and refreshed model of sustainable excellence by which medical physicists can and should contribute to health care. The overarching conviction of MP 3.0 is that every healthcare facility can benefit from medical physics and every patient's care can be improved by a medical physicist. This large and expansive challenge necessitates a range of strategies specific to each area of medical physics: clinical practice, research, product development, and education. The present paper offers a summary of the Phase 1 deliberations of the MP 3.0 initiative pertaining to strategic directions of the discipline primarily but not exclusively oriented toward the clinical practice of medical physics in the United States.

PurposeThe task‐based assessment of image quality using model observers is increasingly used for the assessment of different imaging modalities. However, the performance computation of model observers needs standardization as well as a well‐established trust in its implementation methodology and uncertainty estimation. The purpose of this work was to determine the degree of equivalence of the channelized Hotelling observer performance and uncertainty estimation using an intercomparison exercise.Materials and MethodsImage samples to estimate model observer performance for detection tasks were generated from two‐dimensional CT image slices of a uniform water phantom. A common set of images was sent to participating laboratories to perform and document the following tasks: (a) estimate the detectability index of a well‐defined CHO and its uncertainty in three conditions involving different sized targets all at the same dose, and (b) apply this CHO to an image set where ground truth was unknown to participants (lower image dose). In addition, and on an optional basis, we asked the participating laboratories to (c) estimate the performance of real human observers from a psychophysical experiment of their choice. Each of the 13 participating laboratories was confidentially assigned a participant number and image sets could be downloaded through a secure server. Results were distributed with each participant recognizable by its number and then each laboratory was able to modify their results with justification as model observer calculation are not yet a routine and potentially error prone.ResultsDetectability index increased with signal size for all participants and was very consistent for 6 mm sized target while showing higher variability for 8 and 10 mm sized target. There was one order of magnitude between the lowest and the largest uncertainty estimation.ConclusionsThis intercomparison helped define the state of the art of model observer performance computation and with thirteen participants, reflects openness and trust within the medical imaging community. The performance of a CHO with explicitly defined channels and a relatively large number of test images was consistently estimated by all participants. In contrast, the paper demonstrates that there is no agreement on estimating the variance of detectability in the training and testing setting.