Charles Edgar Metz, professor of radiology and a member of the Committee on Medical Physics at the University of Chicago, died from pancreatic cancer on July 4 at his home in Burr Ridge. He was 69 years old.
Charlie was a brilliant scientist, a passionate model airplane builder, a loving father and grandfather, and a compassionate and kind person. He was born September 11, 1942, in Bay Shore, New York, and grew up in Freeport, Long Island. He graduated cum laude from Bowdoin College with a degree in physics in 1964 and obtained his master’s and PhD degrees in radiologic sciences at the University of Pennsylvania in 1966 and 1969, respectively. He met his wife, Maryanne, also a graduate student, and they were married in 1967. Although divorced in 1987, they remained close friends.
Upon graduation, Charlie became an instructor in radiology at the Argonne Cancer Research Hospital at the University of Chicago. He spent his whole career there, rising to assistant professor in 1971, associate professor in 1975, and professor in 1980. Over that time, he published more than 250 scientific papers.
Charlie was humble and modest, and few knew of his accomplishments in both model airplane building and imaging science. But he excelled in both. In the model airplane world, he was known as the “Librarian,” being a resource for many other enthusiasts. He had assembled a sizable collection of books that are now being donated, along with his modeling kits of World War II airplanes, to the Pritzker Military Library in Chicago.
In medical imaging, his research has contributed greatly to our understanding of the fundamentals of imaging science. Charlie was best known for his pioneering work in receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) analysis, but he also made important contributions through the 1970s and 1980s to our understanding of screen-film systems, nuclear medicine imaging, and image reconstruction. In particular, he developed the Metz filter, which is used widely in the postprocessing of nuclear medicine images for simultaneous image resolution enhancement and noise suppression.
Developed during World War II for use with radar signals, ROC analysis entered medical research in the late 1960s. Recognizing the value and need for quantitative image evaluation in radiologic imaging, Charlie adopted the basic principles from other fields and wrote the definitive papers applying ROC analysis to radiology. Not only did he provide the mathematical and statistical underpinnings, but also he developed practical implementation methodology for conducting observer studies to reduce bias in ROC experiments. His 1978 paper “Basic Principles of ROC Analysis” has been cited nearly 3,000 times according to Google Scholar. Furthermore, Charlie understood that to encourage adoption of ROC methodologies, software should be made available. Long before it became commonplace, Charlie developed ROC software and freely distributed it to scientists and clinicians throughout the world: there are more than 15,000 registered users. Charlie, having been one of its primary champions, made ROC analysis a common and important tool in medical imaging. From small preliminary studies to large multi-institutional clinical trials, such as the Digital Mammographic Imaging Screening Trial, ROC analysis is the primary end point for measuring the impact of new imaging technology.
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A fan of high-performance automobiles, Charles Metz with his last splurge, a 2012 Porsche 911 Cabriolet. Before he passed away, he was able to drive it a few times, really fast, probably listening to Led Zeppelin.
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