Evaluation of the Lung Nodule Sensitivity of Stationary Chest Tomosynthesis in Patients With Known Lung Nodules

Purpose: The proposed research, if successfully implemented, will result in a low-dose, low-cost, and highly effective method for screening of lung cancer, leading to reduction of the lung cancer mortality rate. Using the stationary Digital Chest Tomosynthesis (s-DCT) system the imaging dose for a full tomosynthesis scan is expected to be only 10% of that from a low-dose computed tomography (CT). The targeted imaging time of 2s is 1/5 to 1/3 of that from a current commercial digital chest tomosynthesis (DCT) system at the same imaging dose. Beyond lung cancer screening, the low-dose and sensitive 3D lung imaging modality will likely to find applications in areas such as monitoring of pediatric cystic fibrosis patients where reduction of imaging dose is critical. Participants: One hundred (100) patients undergoing a clinical non-contrast CT for their lung nodules will be asked to have this procedure (scan) within 2 weeks (+/- 1 week) of their clinical CT and chest radiograph, with no intervening procedures or therapies. Procedures (methods): The purpose and endpoint of this study is to compare the sensitivity of the s-DCT system to the conventional chest radiographs with non-contrast chest CT as the reference standard. One hundred (100) patients undergoing a clinical non-contrast CT for their lung nodules will be asked to have this procedure (scan) within 2 weeks (+/- 1 week) of their clinical CT and chest radiograph, with no intervening procedures or therapies.