Effect of radiation dose level on the detectability of pulmonary nodules in chest tomosynthesis.

Objective: To investigate the detectability of pulmonary nodules in chest tomosynthesis at reduced radiation dose levels.

Methods: Eighty-six patients were included in the study and were examined with tomosynthesis and computed tomography (CT). Artificial noise was added to simulate that the tomosynthesis images were acquired at dose levels corresponding to 12, 32, and 70% of the default setting effective dose (0.