The Texture Study
Research type
Research Study
Full title
A Comparison of Inter-Scan Variability in Semi-Automated Volume Measurements and CT Texture Analysis of Pulmonary Nodules
IRAS ID
187899
Contact name
Fergus Gleeson
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
CTRG, University of Oxford
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 7 months, 7 days
Research summary
Many patients are referred to a hospital clinic because a CT scan showed a single spot, or nodule, on one of their lungs. It is important that we find out what these nodules are, because for a small number of patients they may represent an early lung cancer.
This is important because when lung cancer is found in this way, it represents early disease which is usually treatable by surgery. Current clinical guidelines recommend that lung nodules should be monitored by doing a series of CT scans over the next 2 years, to look for changes or growth, which may, but do not always indicate lung cancer.
However, some studies have shown that the size of the nodule on a CT scan can vary by over 20% when patients are scanned at two separate intervals on the same day. This artificial variation in the nodule size, can be caused by a person’s position on the CT scanner, heart rate and breathing.
Another potential method of identifying if a nodule is cancerous or not is by using a new imaging approach called CT texture analysis (CTTA). This involves analysing the CT scan at very high resolution identifying features of the nodule which may not be seen by the naked eye.
In the future we may use CTTA as a method of analysing CT scans with lung nodules. However we do not know whether CT texture can also vary at separate intervals on the same day, in the same way as nodule size. This is something which has not been studied before.
The aims of this study are to assess if CTTA of a lung nodule changes when a patient has two CT scans at separate times, but on the same day.
We would also like to study if there is a better method of controlling breathing when the CT scan is being performed, as we know that this can influence the appearance of the nodule on a scan.
REC name
South Central - Berkshire B Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
15/SC/0748
Date of REC Opinion
18 Jan 2016
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion