The effect of JPEG2000 compression on detection of skull fractures.

RATIONAL AND OBJECTIVES: To investigate the effect of the Joint Photographic Experts Group (JPEG2000) 30:1 and 60:1 lossy compression on the detection of cranial vault fractures when compared to JPEG2000 lossless compression. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Fifty cranial computed tomography (CT) images were processed with three different level of JPEG2000 compression (lossless, 30:1 lossy, and 60:1 lossy) creating three sets of images. These were presented to five musculoskeletal specialists and five neuroradiologists. Each reader read at two of the three compression levels. Twenty-two cases contained a single fracture; the remaining 28 cases contained no fractures. Observers were asked to identify the presence or absence of a fracture, to locate its site, and rate their degree of confidence. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC), jackknife free-response receiver operating characteristic (JAFROC) and the Dorfman-Berbaum-Metz multiple reader multiple case (DBM-MRMC) analyses were used to explore differences between the lossless and lossy compressed images. RESULTS: JPEG2000 lossless and 30:1 lossy compression demonstrated no significant difference in their performance with JAFROC and DBM-MRMC analysis (P < .416); however, JPEG2000 30:1 lossy compression demonstrated significantly better performance than 60:1 lossy compression (P < .016). A significant increase in misplaced confidence ratings was also seen with 60:1 (P < .037) over 30:1 lossy and lossless compression. CONCLUSION: JPEG2000 60:1 compression degrades the detection of skull fractures significantly while increasing the confidence with which readers rate fractures compared with 30:1 lossy and lossless compression. JPEG2000 30:1 lossy compression does not significantly change performance when compared to JPEG2000 lossless for the detection of skull fractures on CT.