Sixty-four-fold data reduction of chest radiographs using a super-resolution convolutional neural network

Abstract

Abstract Objectives To develop and validate a super-resolution (SR) algorithm generating clinically feasible chest radiographs from 64-fold reduced data. Methods An SR convolutional neural network was trained to produce original-resolution images (output) from 64-fold reduced images (input) using 128 × 128 patches (n = 127 030). For validation, 112 radiographs—including those with pneumothorax (n = 17), nodules (n = 20), consolidations (n = 18), and ground-glass opacity (GGO; n = 16)—were collected. Three image sets were prepared: the original images and those reconstructed using SR and conventional linear interpolation (LI) using 64-fold reduced data. The mean-squared error (MSE) was calculated to measure similarity between the reconstructed and original images, and image noise was quantified. Three thoracic radiologists evaluated the quality of each image and decided whether any abnormalities were present. Results The SR-images were more similar to the original images than the LI-reconstructed images (MSE: 9269 ± 1015 vs. 9429 ± 1057; P = .02). The SR-images showed lower measured noise and scored better noise level by three radiologists than both original and LI-reconstructed images (Ps < .01). The radiologists’ pooled sensitivity with the SR-reconstructed images was not significantly different compared with the original images for detecting pneumothorax (SR vs. original, 90.2% [46/51] vs. 96.1% [49/51]; P = .19), nodule (90.0% [54/60] vs. 85.0% [51/60]; P = .26), consolidation (100% [54/54] vs. 96.3% [52/54]; P = .50), and GGO (91.7% [44/48] vs. 95.8% [46/48]; P = .69). Conclusions SR-reconstructed chest radiographs using 64-fold reduced data showed a lower noise level than the original images, with equivalent sensitivity for detecting major abnormalities. Advances in knowledge This is the first study applying super-resolution in data reduction of chest radiographs.