Does software optimization influence the radiologists' perception in low dose paediatric pelvic examinations?

Area of Science:

• Radiology
• Medical Imaging
• Image Processing

Background:

• Low-dose pediatric pelvic examinations present challenges in maintaining diagnostic image quality.
• Software optimization techniques are increasingly explored to improve image perception.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the impact of software optimization on radiologists' perception of image quality in low-dose pediatric pelvic radiography.

Main Methods:

• Prospective enrollment of 25 pediatric patients (3-7 years) undergoing pelvic DR examinations.
• Images acquired using standardized low-dose parameters and optimized with five software variations.
• Image quality assessed by five experienced radiologists using Visual Grading Analysis (VGA) and six anatomical criteria.

Main Results:

• Software-optimized images were deemed diagnostically suitable in 48-71% of cases.
• Optimized images showed significantly better quality compared to standard clinical settings.
• Noise reduction was identified as the key software parameter influencing image quality (AUC 0.8172).

Conclusions:

• Software optimization demonstrably improves radiologists' perception of image quality in pediatric pelvic radiography.
• The findings support the integration of software optimization into clinical practice.
• Noise reduction is the most critical software parameter for enhancing diagnostic image quality.