Comparison of accuracy and time-efficiency of CT colonography between conventional and panoramic 3D interpretation methods: An anthropomorphic phantom study

Purpose: To retrospectively compare the conventional three-dimensional (3D) interpretation method with the panoramic 3D method with regard to accuracy and time-efficiency in the detection of colonic polyps, using pig colonic phantoms as the standard of reference. Materials and methods: One-hundred and sixty-two polyps were created in 18 pig colonic phantoms. CT colonography was performed with a 64-row detector CT scanner. Two-week interval reviews for the CTC image dataset with both the conventional and the panoramic 3D interpretation method were independently performed by three radiologists. The sensitivities of both methods were compared with the McNemar test. The mean interpretation time for each interpretation method was also assessed and compared with the Wilcoxon signed-rank test. Results: Compared with the conventional 3D method (0.96 for reader 1, 0.89 for reader 2, and 0.97 for reader 3), the panoramic method revealed comparable sensitivities (0.91 for reader 1, 0.86 for reader 2, and 0.93 for reader 3) (p > 0.05). Interpretation time was significantly shorter with the panoramic method (115.1 ± 32.7 s for reader 1, 229.7 ± 72.2 s for reader 2, and 282.6 ± 113.7 s for reader 3) than with the conventional method (218.9 ± 59.9 s for reader 1, 379.4 ± 117.0 s for reader 2, and 458.7 ± 149.4 s for reader 3) for all readers (p < 0.05). Conclusion: Compared with the conventional 3D interpretation method, the panoramic 3D interpretation method shows improved time-efficiency and comparable sensitivity in the detection of colonic polyps.