Can radiological technologists serve as primary screeners of low-dose computed tomography for the diagnosis of lung cancer?

Abstract

The Accreditation Council for Lung Cancer CT Screening of Japan established guidelines for the certification of Radiological Technologists in 2009. To analyze the trends in examination pass rates of the Radiological Technologists and discuss the reasons. The cohort comprised 1593 Radiological Technologists (as examinees) based on 10-year of data (with a total of 17 examination runs). First, the examinees' written test results were analyzed. Second, an abnormal finding detection test was conducted using >100 client PCs connected to a dedicated server containing low-dose lung cancer CT screening images of 60 cases. The passing scores were correct answer rate >60% and sensitivity (TP) of >90%, respectively. Overall, 1243 examinees passed with an overall rate of 78%. The average pass rate for the written test was 91%, whereas that for the abnormal findings detection test was 85%. There was a moderate correlation between the test pass rate and average years of clinical experience of the examinees for the abnormal findings detection test (R = 0.558), whereas no such correlation existed for the written test (R = 0.105). In order for accredited Radiological Technologists to serve as primary screeners of low-dose computed tomography, it is important to revise the educational system according to current standard practices.