How reliable are Hounsfield-unit measurements in forensic radiology?

被引：34

作者：

Ruder, Thomas D. ^{[1
]}

Thali, Yannick ^{[1
]}

Schindera, Sebastian T. ^{[2
]}

Dalla Torre, Simon A. ^{[3
]}

Zech, Wolf-Dieter ^{[4
]}

Thali, Michael J. ^{[1
,4
]}

Ross, Steffen ^{[1
]}

Hatch, Gary M. ^{[1
]}

机构：

[1] Univ Bern, Inst Forens Med, Ctr Forens Imaging & Virtopsy, CH-3012 Bern, Switzerland

[2] Univ Hosp Bern, Inselspital, Inst Radiol, CH-3010 Bern, Switzerland

[3] Swiss Agcy Therapeut Prod, Swissmed, CH-3000 Bern 9, Switzerland

[4] Univ Bern, Inst Forens Med, Dept Forens Pathol, CH-3012 Bern, Switzerland

来源：

FORENSIC SCIENCE INTERNATIONAL | 2012年 / 220卷 / 1-3期

关键词：

Forensic radiology; Computed tomography; HU measurements; Object identification; Reliability; Reference model; MULTISLICE COMPUTED-TOMOGRAPHY; BONE-MINERAL MEASUREMENTS; QUALITY-CONTROL; PHANTOM; CT; STANDARDIZATION; IDENTIFICATION; SPINE; QCT; DXA;

D O I：

10.1016/j.forsciint.2012.03.004

中图分类号：

DF [法律]; D9 [法律]; R [医药、卫生];

学科分类号：

0301 ; 10 ;

摘要：

Objective: To assess the reliability of computed tomography (CT) numbers, also known as Hounsfield-units (HU) in the differentiation and identification of forensically relevant materials and to provide instructions to improve the reproducibility of HU measurements in daily forensic practice. Materials and methods: We scanned a phantom containing non-organic materials (glass, rocks and metals) on three different CT scanners with standardized parameters. The t-test was used to assess the influence of the scanner, the size and shape of different types of regions-of-interest (ROI), the composition and shape of the object, and the reader performance on HU measurements. Intra-class correlation coefficient was used to assess intra- and inter-reader reliability. Results: HU values did not change significantly as a function of ROI-shape or -size (p > 0.05). Intra-reader reliability reached ICC values >0.929 (p < 0.001). Inter-reader reliability was also excellent with an ICC of 0.994 (p < 0.001). Four of seven objects yielded significantly different CT numbers at different levels within the object (p < 0.05). In 6/7 objects the HU changed significantly from CT scanner to CT scanner (p < 0.05). Conclusion: Reproducible CT number measurements can be achieved through correct ROI-placement and repeat measurements within the object of interest. However, HU may differ from CT-scanner to CT-scanner. In order to obtain comparable CT numbers we suggest that a dedicated Forensic Reference Phantom be developed. (c) 2012 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

引用

页码：219 / 223

页数：5

共 21 条

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