Osteo-articular, mammographic and thoracic films: clinical evaluation of digital view box versus conventional view...

To compare in a clinical setting a conventional view box with a digital view box (Smart Light 2000 Digital Film Viewer System, Smart Light, Israel) in the identification of osteo-articular, mammographic and thoracic lesions.

Six radiologists (two for each imaging procedure), experts in osteo-articular, mammographic and thoracic diseases, independently, compared 600 plain films (100 patient with two projections for each imaging procedure). The radiologists evaluated the films by filling-out a multiple choice questionnaire containing questions concerning the type of pathology seen and the technical quality of the radiography in terms of exposure along with specific questions concerning each of the imaging procedures.

We observed a higher sensitivity of the digital view box for lesion identification (p<0.05); furthermore, we analyzed a greater number of radiographs, recovering technically unsuitable films, because of over or under-exposure (high or low optical density). The interreader agreement was also good (> 0.75). The better lesion perception derived from the increase luminance of the digital view box in the evaluation of higher film densities, such as in overexposed films. DISCUSSION. The technical characteristics of the digital view box reduce or eliminate negative factors that reduce perceptional performance, and often permit the recovery of films that would have otherwise been considered technically unreadable.