Assessment and comparison of chest radiography techniques in the United States and Sweden

Abstract

The United States Center for Devices and Radiological Health and the Swedish National Institute of Radiation Protection started a collaborative project in 1983. The purpose of the project was to test the adequacy and practicability of the United States (US) Nationwide Evaluation of X-ray Trends (NEXT) programme in Sweden. The NEXT protocol for the postero-anterior chest projection was modified and expanded to make it both "statistical" and "investigational" (in the US, NEXT gives mainly "statistical" information). All chest X-ray units in Sweden were surveyed in 1986-87. The project showed that the NEXT programme is applicable to countries other than the United States and provides a standardized protocol that enables intercomparison of the radiological techniques. This paper presents the comparison of the radiological techniques used in Sweden and the United States. The results of the investigational modifications made to the protocol used in Sweden are discussed. Recommendations concerning expansion of the NEXT protocol to include these valuable tools for investigational surveys are presented.