Although receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis has been widely used for the evaluation of medical imaging systems, traditional ROC analysis can strictly be applied only to binary decision systems. As yet, no fully generalized ROC analysis has been developed to deal with the multiple alternative decision systems that are commonly encountered in the clinical setting. In this paper, we have developed a general method of analysis based on a Bayes decision framework applied to a multiple alternative decision model. As a simplified implementation of the general method, a K-nearest neighbor pattern classification strategy can be used. The application of this alternative operating characteristic analysis for the evaluation of two display formats for pediatric chest radiographs is demonstrated.

Date Published: 14 September 1993
PDF: 14 pages
Proc. SPIE 1898, Medical Imaging 1993: Image Processing, (14 September 1993); doi: 10.1117/12.154552

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 1898:
Medical Imaging 1993: Image Processing
Murray H. Loew, Editor(s)