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Evaluation of the Commission of the European Communities quality criteria for the paediatric lateral spine

¹ Institute of Child Health, 30 Guilford Street, London WC1N 1EH and ² Department of Radiology, Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children, London WC1N 3JH, UK

View larger version (18K): [in a new window]   Figure 1. Percentage of radiographs fulfilling Commission of the European Communities (CEC) criteria (mean Observers 1 and 2). Criterion 1 was the criterion most frequently fulfilled—74 out of 89 (83%) for film–screen (FS) and 189 out of 197 (96%) for digital images (DR). The least fulfilled criteria were Criterion 7—49 out of 89 (55%) for film–screen, and Criterion 6—120 out of 197 (61%) for digital radiographs.

View larger version (36K): [in a new window]   Figure 2. Image criteria scores. There was no significant difference in the mean image criteria scores for Observers 1 and 2. SD, standard deviation.

View larger version (30K): [in a new window]   Figure 3. Visual grading analysis scores. As regards visual grading analysis, the majority of images were equal to or slightly better than the reference image (scores 0–1). There was no significant difference in mean visual grading analysis scores between the observers. SD, standard deviation.

View larger version (18K): [in a new window]   Figure 4. Visual grading analysis score (VGAS) (Observer) film–screen (FS) versus digital radiographs (DR). This figure depicts clearly how the Commission of the European Communities criteria may be used to detect differences in image quality based on imaging technique. Note particularly the differences in fulfilment of Criteria 6 and 7 between film–screen and digital radiographs.

View larger version (16K): [in a new window]   Figure 5. Sensitivity values by age group and fulfilment of Criterion 6. Selecting the 25th and 75th quartile S values (for digital images) for each age group when Criterion 6 was fulfilled (image criteria technique Observer 2—who was blinded to this aspect of the study) allowed narrower target ranges to be set.