Softcopy interpretation of head and abdominal computed tomograms: comparison of 1024 × 768 to 2048 × 2048 monitors

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine the accuracy of interpretation of computed tomograms (CT) on 1K × 1K PC-based review workstations used by clinicians, and compare them to 2K × 2K diagnostic workstations used by radiologists. We reviewed 733 CT examinations, of which 390 were head and 198 abdominal. All studies were first reviewed on the PC-based workstation, and the findings were compared to those from the diagnostic workstation that served as the control. In all, 167 head and 49 abdominal CTs were negative. Forty head CTs had incidental findings. Of the 364 positive studies, 215 were head CTs and 149 were abdominal CTs. Findings were not apparent on the PC-based monitor in 3 out of the positive head CT cases (1.4 %) and 3 out of the positive abdominal studies (2 %). The combined missed rate was 1.65 %, which we consider to be an acceptable error rate for review workstations.