Previous work comparing the detection of microcalcification
clusters in mammographic images have found mixed
results.4,5 A phantom study4 found that an a-Se FP detector
outperformed a CCD system, a high resolution CR detector,
and a SF system. Finally, a prospective clinical study5 found
that detection of lesions containing calcification was higher
with an a-Si DR detector compared to CR. Both these studies,
however, suffered from one of the following limitations:
images of phantoms were used rather than clinical images,4
hard copy of digital images was viewed4,5 (this is not current
clinical practice in the United Kingdom), subjective measures
of image quality were used5 and sophisticated ROC
(response operating characteristic)/Free ROC analysis was
not performed.