Receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) methodology was developed during World War II to evaluate new signal detection technology. Subsequently, it was used extensively in radar signal detection and psychophysical research. There have been renewed interests and an increasing number of applications in radiology and medical imaging in recent decades . Nowadays, with an explosion of computer-aided diagnosis, comparative effectiveness research, technology assessment, imaging biomarkers, and personalized medicine, ROC analysis continues to play important roles in informed medical decision making .
This article series is one of two memorial issues that will pay special tribute to Professor Charles E. Metz of the University of Chicago. As evident in both the editorial by Dr John Eng and the obituary by Dr Robert M. Nishikawa herein, Dr Metz has made significant contributions to the field of ROC analysis and was widely recognized as one of our founding giants in medical physics and diagnostic medicine. Dr Metz has left behind a rich body of ROC literature. For example, a PubMed search conducted on September 20, 2012, using the search string “Metz CE” yielded a staggering total of 150 articles, with his very first articles appearing in the late 1960s and early 1970s.
According to the history of this journal, in 1994, the three leading academic radiology societies in the United States, along with their counterpart among radiology residents, severed a long relationship with Investigative Radiology and its publisher, J. B. Lippincott (now Lippincott-Raven), to found their own journal. Academic Radiology now serves as the official journal of the Association of University Radiologists, the Society of Chairs of Academic Radiology Departments, the Association of Program Directors in Radiology, and the American Association of Academic Chief Residents in Radiology . As the predecessor of Academic Radiology , Investigative Radiology published 10 seminal articles by Dr Metz and others, of which three stand out as timeless masterpieces . Continuing the tradition of housing high-impact articles on ROC methodology, Academic Radiology published 23 articles coauthored by Dr Metz.
Dr Metz was well known for his unwavering scientific rigor and painstaking attention to detail in his highly accomplished scientific investigations and resulting publications. Academic Radiology has been fortunate enough to publish his latest works . Such publications have influenced a generation of our readers, including radiologists, residents and fellows, medical physicists, biomedical imaging scientists, statisticians, and other trainees, through sophisticated methodology that Dr Metz pioneered, notably through his innovative and robust binormal model and the analysis of multireader multicase data .
In these two special memorial issues, several leading authors in the field of ROC analysis have developed and extended several important applications inspired by both Dr Metz’s earlier and recent work. Given the level of attention paid to computer-aided diagnosis, comparative effectiveness research, biomarker validation, personalized medicine, and technology assessment, as well as the regulatory aspects at the US Food and Drug Administration , it is certain that ROC analysis will be a mainstay as an important visual and analytic tool. Therefore, the spirit of Dr Metz and his legacy in ROC analysis will live on.
In particular, the Committee on the Metz Memorial Issues would like to express our deep gratitude to Dr Maryellen L. Giger of the University of Chicago, the Editorial Board of Academic Radiology , the Association of University Radiologists, Editor-in-Chief Dr Stanley Baum, and the editorial coordinator, Ms Flora F. Cauley. These issues would not have been possible without their firm support, following the profound inspiration of Dr Metz’s lifelong achievements.
References
1. Eng J.: Receiver operating characteristic analysis: a primer. Acad Radiol 2005; 12: pp. 909-916.
2. Zou K.H., Liu A., Bandos A.I., et. al.: Statistical Evaluation of Diagnostic Performance: Topics in ROC Analysis.2011.Chapman & Hall/CRC PressBoca Raton, FL
3. Pantoja E., Wehmeyer J.M.: Academic radiology. JAMA 1997; 278: pp. 81.
4. Metz C.E.: ROC methodology in radiologic imaging. Invest Radiol 1986; 21: pp. 720-733.
5. Metz C.E.: Some practical issues of experimental design and data analysis in radiological ROC studies. Invest Radiol 1989; 24: pp. 234-245.
6. Dorfman D.D., Berbaum K.S., Metz C.E.: Receiver operating characteristic rating analysis. Generalization to the population of readers and patients with the jackknife method. Invest Radiol 1992; 27: pp. 723-731.
7. Roe C.A., Metz C.E.: Dorfman-Berbaum-Metz method for statistical analysis of multireader, multimodality receiver operating characteristic data: validation with computer simulation. Acad Radiol 1997; 4: pp. 298-303.
8. Pesce L.L., Metz C.E., Berbaum K.S.: On the convexity of ROC curves estimated from radiological test results. Acad Radiol 2010; 17: pp. 960-968.
9. Pesce L.L., Horsch K., Drukker K., et. al.: Semiparametric estimation of the relationship between ROC operating points and the test-result scale: application to the proper binormal model. Acad Radiol 2011; 18: pp. 1537-1548.
10. Gallas B.D., Chan H.P., D’Orsi C.J., et. al.: Evaluating imaging and computer-aided detection and diagnosis devices at the FDA. Acad Radiol 2012; 19: pp. 463-477.