Table I.
Comparison of required times per field for each task in the manual and automated PSQA procedures. At all modulation levels, automation of the verification plan reduced the time spent by at least 50%. Time needed for PSQA measurements did not directly decrease, but network connectivity allowed the analysis to begin immediately. Automation of the γ-index analysis produced the most significant time reduction: of an order of magnitude for all plans.
| Time (min)a |
||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Low Modulation | Moderate Modulation | High Modulation | ||||
| 1-3 fields | 2-4 fields | 4-6 fields | ||||
| Manual | Automated | Manual | Automated | Manual | Automated | |
| Plan Preparation | 19 (3) | 9 (1) | 22 (6) | 8 (1) | 30 (4) | 8 (1) |
| Measurements | 8 (4) | 8 (4) | 15 (3) | 15 (3) | 14 (2) | 14 (2) |
| Analysis | 5 (3) | 1 (<1) | 15 (5) | 2 (1) | 19 (3) | 2 (1) |
| Overall | 32 (11) | 18 (4) | 52 (6) | 24 (4) | 63 (5) | 24 (2) |
a
Time presented as the average per field with standard deviation in parentheses.