Table 1.
Subjective and objective image quality evaluation
Fig 1.
61yo male with 19 years of asbestos exposure. Pleural plaques, calcified (black arrow) and non-calcified (white arrow) are depicted with equal efficiency by the reference full dose CT (a–DLP of 301.7mGy.cm) and the ULD acquisition (b–DLP of 19mGy.cm).
Fig 2.
53yo male with 23 years of asbestos exposure. Pleural plaques (long white arrows), diffuse pleural thickening (parenchymal bands–black arrows) and asbestosis (subpleural intralobular and septal lines–white arrows) are depicted with equivalent diagnostic quality in the standard acquisition (a–mediastinal window, c–lung window; DLP of 291mGy.cm) and in the ULD CT (b–mediastinal window, d–lung window; DLP of 18mGy.cm).
Fig 3.
ULD CT false negative example.
47yo male with 15 years of asbestos exposure. Subtle posterior basal interstitial abnormalities related to early asbestosis are visible in the standard acquisition (a–DLP of 201mGy.cm) but indiscernible on the ULD CT (b–DLP of 19mGy.cm).
Fig 4.
59yo male with 17 years of asbestos exposure. An 8mm solid nodule is depicted as well in the reference full dose acquisition (a–DLP of 475mGy.cm) as in the ULD one (b–DLP of 19mGy.cm).
Table 2.
Inter-reader agreement.