CLINICAL-DIAGNOSIS FROM DIGITAL DISPLAYS - RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS FROM THE ST MARYS EVALUATION PROJECT

Preliminary results with the first commercially available digital disp lay system to be installed in a British radiology department were publ ished in 1989: these consisted of data from observer performance studi es of digitized images displayed using a 1024-line monitor, showing a single pathological feature-subperiosteal resorption in renal osteodys trophy. Further experiments have now been conducted with the successor to this equipment, a 1280-line digital display system. Formal observe r performance studies were undertaken for four pathological conditions , and the results show statistically significant differences in perfor mance between the digitized displayed images and those on film. The di splay system was not considered to be good enough for the task of prim ary radiological diagnosis of subtle lesions; findings support the con clusion that careful, objective clinical evaluation of digital display systems is important before they are introduced into clinical use.