Hounsfield Unit inaccuracy in computed tomography lesion size and density, diagnostic quality vs attenuation correction (2017)
Journal Article
Szczepura, K., Thompson, J., & Manning, D. (2017). Hounsfield Unit inaccuracy in computed tomography lesion size and density, diagnostic quality vs attenuation correction. Proceedings of SPIE, 10136, https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2254275

In computed tomography the Hounsfield Units (HU) are used as an indicator of the tissue type based on the linear attenuation coefficients of the tissue. HU accuracy is essential when this metric is used in any form to support diagnosis. In hybrid ima... Read More about Hounsfield Unit inaccuracy in computed tomography lesion size and density, diagnostic quality vs attenuation correction.

Impact of tube current modulation on lesion conspicuity index in hi-resolution chest computed tomography (2017)
Journal Article
Szczepura, K., Tomkinson, D., & Manning, D. (2017). Impact of tube current modulation on lesion conspicuity index in hi-resolution chest computed tomography. Proceedings of SPIE, 10136, https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2254256

Tube current modulation is a method employed in the use of CT in an attempt to optimize radiation dose to the patient. The acceptable noise (noise index) can be varied, based on the level of optimization required; higher accepted noise reduces the pa... Read More about Impact of tube current modulation on lesion conspicuity index in hi-resolution chest computed tomography.

Effects of increased compression with an ultrasound transducer on the conspicuity of breast lesions in a phantom (2017)
Journal Article
Szczepura, K., Faqir, T., & Manning, D. (2017). Effects of increased compression with an ultrasound transducer on the conspicuity of breast lesions in a phantom. Proceedings of SPIE, 10136, https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2254263

Ultrasound imaging of the breast is highly operator dependent. The amount of pressure applied with the transducer has a direct impact on the lesion visibility in breast ultrasound. The conspicuity index is a quantitative measure of lesion visibility,... Read More about Effects of increased compression with an ultrasound transducer on the conspicuity of breast lesions in a phantom.

Analysis of effective and organ dose estimation in CT when using mA modulation : a single scanner pilot study (2017)
Journal Article
Tootell, A., Szczepura, K., & Hogg, P. (2017). Analysis of effective and organ dose estimation in CT when using mA modulation : a single scanner pilot study. Radiography, 23(2), 159-166. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.radi.2017.02.006

Effective dose (ED) estimation in CT examinations can be obtained by combining dose length product (DLP) with published ED per DLP coefficients or performed using software. These methods do not account for tube current (mA) modulation which is influe... Read More about Analysis of effective and organ dose estimation in CT when using mA modulation : a single scanner pilot study.

An audit to investigate the impact of false positive breast screening results and diagnostic work-up on re-engagement with subsequent routine screening (2014)
Journal Article
Nightingale, J., Borgen, R., Porter-Bennett, L., & Szczepura, K. (2014). An audit to investigate the impact of false positive breast screening results and diagnostic work-up on re-engagement with subsequent routine screening. Radiography, 21(1), 7-10. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.radi.2014.05.005

Introduction: Women attending breast screening may have suspicious mammographic findings that are subsequently found at assessment clinic to be normal (false positive, FP). A false positive diagnosis is not harmless, with short and long term negativ... Read More about An audit to investigate the impact of false positive breast screening results and diagnostic work-up on re-engagement with subsequent routine screening.

A free-response evaluation determining value in the computed tomography attenuation correction image for revealing pulmonary incidental findings : a phantom study (2014)
Journal Article
Thompson, J., Hogg, P., Manning, D., Szczepura, K., & Chakraborty, D. (2014). A free-response evaluation determining value in the computed tomography attenuation correction image for revealing pulmonary incidental findings : a phantom study. Academic radiology, 21(4), 538-545. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.acra.2014.01.003

RATIONALE AND OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to compare lesion-detection performance when interpreting computed tomography (CT) images that are acquired for attenuation correction when performing single photon emission computed tomography/... Read More about A free-response evaluation determining value in the computed tomography attenuation correction image for revealing pulmonary incidental findings : a phantom study.

Fact or fiction : an analysis of the 10 kVp ‘rule’ in computed radiography (2013)
Journal Article
radiography. Radiography, 19(3), 223-227. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.radi.2013.05.003

Purpose: To determine whether increasing the tube voltage by 10 kVp whilst reducing the tube current by
50% (10 kVp ‘rule’) produces similar perceptual image quality.
Method: 391 matched pairs of anthropomorphic chest phantom X-ray images were pro... Read More about Fact or fiction : an analysis of the 10 kVp ‘rule’ in computed radiography.

Tissue bulge during stereotactic core biopsy (2013)
Journal Article
Hackney, L., Williams, S., Hogg, P., & Szczepura, K. (2013). Tissue bulge during stereotactic core biopsy. Radiography, 19(4), 366-368. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.radi.2013.06.007

In full field digital mammography (FFDM) the whole breast is subjected to compression with a perspex compression paddle in order to reduce breast thickness and improve image quality. Once a mammographic abnormality has been detected using FFDM and a... Read More about Tissue bulge during stereotactic core biopsy.

Optimising the number of thermoluminescent dosimeters required for the measurement of effective dose for computed tomography attenuation correction data in SPECT/CT myocardial perfusion imaging (2013)
Journal Article
Tootell, A., Szczepura, K., & Hogg, P. (2013). Optimising the number of thermoluminescent dosimeters required for the measurement of effective dose for computed tomography attenuation correction data in SPECT/CT myocardial perfusion imaging. Radiography, 19(1), 42-47. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.radi.2012.11.001

Background

The use of thermoluminescent dosimeters (TLDs) is regarded as time consuming and laborious. As part of our dosimetry research it was necessary to optimise the use of our resources, both physical and time. Experimental work was carried... Read More about Optimising the number of thermoluminescent dosimeters required for the measurement of effective dose for computed tomography attenuation correction data in SPECT/CT myocardial perfusion imaging.

Pressure and breast thickness in mammography : an exploratory calibration study (2013)
Journal Article
Hogg, P., Taylor, M., Szczepura, K., Mercer, C., & Denton, E. (2013). Pressure and breast thickness in mammography : an exploratory calibration study. British Journal of Radiology, 86(1021), 1-7. https://doi.org/10.1259/bjr.20120222

Objective To perform a calibration study to provide data to help improve consistency in the pressure that is applied during mammography.

Methods Automatic readouts of breast thickness accuracy vary between mammography machines; therefore, one m... Read More about Pressure and breast thickness in mammography : an exploratory calibration study.

Analysis of CT acquisition parameters suitable for use in SPECT/CT : a free-response receiver operating characteristic study (2012)
Journal Article
Thompson, J., Hogg, P., Szczepura, K., & Manning, D. (2012). Analysis of CT acquisition parameters suitable for use in SPECT/CT : a free-response receiver operating characteristic study. Radiography, 18(4), 238-243. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.radi.2012.05.004

Purpose

This dose optimisation free-response receiver operating characteristic (FROC) study compares the diagnostic performance of 8 CT acquisition parameter settings suitable for use with diagnostic quality SPECT/CT systems. Observers were requi... Read More about Analysis of CT acquisition parameters suitable for use in SPECT/CT : a free-response receiver operating characteristic study.

The readout thickness versus the measured thickness for a range of screen film mammography (SFM) and full-field digital mammography (FFDM) units (2011)
Journal Article
Hauge, I., Hogg, P., Szczepura, K., Connolly, P., McGill, G., & Mercer, C. (2011). The readout thickness versus the measured thickness for a range of screen film mammography (SFM) and full-field digital mammography (FFDM) units. Medical Physics, 39(1), 263-271. https://doi.org/10.1118/1.3663579

PURPOSE: To establish a simple method to determine breast readout accuracy on mammography units. METHODS: A thickness measuring device (TMD) was used in conjunction with a breast phantom. This phantom had compression characteristics similar to human... Read More about The readout thickness versus the measured thickness for a range of screen film mammography (SFM) and full-field digital mammography (FFDM) units.