The application of new technologies in diagnosing occupational asbestosis

Medical experts have increasingly been relying on modern computer technologies in performing their work. This paper opens with a brief description of the advantages of computer technologies (compression of a digital image, its filing, transfer and formatting), and their bearing on the accuracy of diagnosis. The aim of this study was to assess the reliability of modern technologies, particularly in diagnosing asbestosis. The study included subjects employed in asbestos plants in Ploce, Croatia. The advantages of the computer aid were viewed in relation to intraobserver's and interobserver's error in the reading of X-ray. Independent radiologists disagreed in about 30 of 223 X-ray readings on which they based their diagnosis (healthy or not healthy).