DIGITIZED RADIOGRAPHS IN SKELETAL TRAUMA - A PERFORMANCE COMPARISON BETWEEN A DIGITAL WORKSTATION AND THE ORIGINAL FILM IMAGES

PURPOSE: To evaluate the diagnostic performance of a teleradiology sys tem in skeletal trauma. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Radiographs from 180 sk eletal trauma patients were digitized (matrix, 2,000 x 2,500) and tran smitted to a remote digital viewing console (1,200-line monitor). Four radiologists interpreted both the original film images and digital im ages. Each reader was asked to identify, locate, and characterize frac tures and dislocations. Receiver operating characteristic curves were generated, and the results of the original and digitized film readings were compared. RESULTS: All readers performed better with the origina l film when interpreting fractures. Although the patterns varied betwe en readers, all had statistically significant differences (P < .01) fo r the two image types. There was no statistically significant differen ce in performance with the two images when dislocations were diagnosed . CONCLUSION: The system tested is not a satisfactory alternative to t he original radiograph for routine reading of fracture films.