Differential receiver operating characteristic (DROC) method

Dev Prasad Chakraborty; Harold L. Kundel; Calvin F. Nodine; T. K. Narayan; Vadivel Devaraju

doi:10.1117/12.310893

24 June 1998 Differential receiver operating characteristic (DROC) method

Dev Prasad Chakraborty, Harold L. Kundel, Calvin F. Nodine, T. K. Narayan, Vadivel Devaraju

Proceedings Volume 3338, Medical Imaging 1998: Image Processing; (1998) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.310893
Event: Medical Imaging '98, 1998, San Diego, CA, United States

Abstract

The objective of this research was to develop a method for measuring small differences in diagnostic task performance between two imaging modalities. In the proposed Differential Receiver Operating Characteristic (DROC) method, the observer is shown a pair of images of the same patients, one from each modality A and B. The patient can be normal or abnormal but this information is not known to the observer. The observer selects the image that is preferred for the specified diagnostic task and assigns a rating. Analysis of this experiment yields the area under the DROC curve (A_d). If A_d is greater than 0.5, then modality B is superior to modality A and conversely, if it is less than 0.5, then A is superior to B. With a plausible assumption it can be shown that the result of the paired image presentation DROC experiment will track the difference in A_z's obtained from two single image presentation ROC experiments. A proof-of-concept experiment was conducted to test this idea. Both DROC and ROC studies were conducted using 6 readers. The DROC method was found to track the conventional ROC method and to yield far greater sensitivity, on the average about a factor of 3.46 greater. This work suggests a new paradigm for differential observer performance experiments. The DROC method has the potential for detecting extremely suitable differences in image quality, much smaller than is detectable by the present ROC method. This should allow rapid optimization of imaging systems, without the need for expensive and often inconclusive ROC studies.

Citation Download Citation

Dev Prasad Chakraborty, Harold L. Kundel, Calvin F. Nodine, T. K. Narayan, and Vadivel Devaraju "Differential receiver operating characteristic (DROC) method", Proc. SPIE 3338, Medical Imaging 1998: Image Processing, (24 June 1998); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.310893

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