VIDEO-BASED TELERADIOLOGY FOR INTRAOSSEOUS LESIONS - A RECEIVER OPERATING CHARACTERISTIC ANALYSIS

Immediate access to off-site expert diagnostic consultants regarding u nusual radiographic findings or radiographic quality assurance issues could be a current problem for private dental practitioners. Teleradio logy, a system for transmitting radiographic images, offers a potentia l solution to this problem. Although much research has been done to ev aluate feasibility and utilization of teleradiology systems in medical imaging, little research on dental applications has been performed. I n this investigation 47 panoramic films with an equal distribution of images with intraosseous jaw lesions and no disease were viewed by a p anel of observers with teleradiology and conventional viewing methods. The teleradiology system consisted of an analog video-based system si mulating remote radiographic consultation between a general dentist an d a dental imaging specialist. Conventional viewing consisted of tradi tional viewbox methods. Observers were asked to identify the presence or absence of 24 intraosseous lesions and to determine their locations . No statistically significant differences in modalities or observers were identified between methods at the 0.05 level. The results indicat e that viewing intraosseous lesions of video-based panoramic images is equal to conventional light box viewing.