RADIUS—closing the circle on the assessment of imaging performance
1 Integrated Radiological Services Ltd, Unit 188 Century Buildings, Tower Street, Brunswick Business Park, Liverpool L3 4BJ, UK
2 Department of Radiation Physics, Malmö University Hospital, SE-205 02 Malmö, Sweden
3 Department of Radiation Physics, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, SE-413 45 Göteborg, Sweden
4 GSF Institut für Strahlenschutz, Postfach 1129, D-85758 Oberschleisheim, Germany
5 Joint Department of Physics, The Royal Marsden NHS Trust and Institute of Cancer research, London SW3 6TJ, UK
6 Department of Radiation Physics, IMV Faculty of Health science, Linköping University, SE-58185 Linköping, Sweden
7 Institute for Applied Radiophysics, Grand-Pre1, CH-1007 Lausanne, Switzerland
8 Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt, Section for Image analysis, D-38116 Braunschweig, Germany
9 Klinik für Diagnostische Radiologie der Otto-Von-Guericke Universität Magdeburg, D-39120 Magdeburg, Germany
* Corresponding author: MikeMoores{at}irs-limited.com
The RADIUS (Radiological Imaging Unification Strategy) project addresses the assessment of image quality in terms of both physical and clinically relevant measures. The aim is to unify our understanding of both types of measure as well as the numerous underlying factors that play a key role in the assessments of imaging performance. In this way it is expected to provide a solid basis for the improvement in radiological safety management, where not only radiation risks are considered but also diagnostic risks of incorrect clinical outcomes (i.e. false positive/false negative). The project has applied a variety of relevant experimental and theoretical methods to this problem, which is generic to medical imaging as a whole. Digital radiography of the chest and the breast has been employed as the clinical imaging domain vehicles for the study. The project addressed the problem from the following directions: role and relevance of pathology, human observer studies including receiver operating characteristics, image quality criteria analysis, structural noise analysis, physical measurements on clinical images, physical measurements on imaging system, modelling of imaging system, modelling of visual processes, modelling of doses delivered and IT-based scientific support strategies. This paper presents an overview of the main outcomes from this project and highlights how the research outcomes actually apply to the real world. In particular, attention will be focused on new and original findings and methods and techniques that have been developed within the framework of the project. The relevance of the project's outcomes to future European research will also be presented.