الفهرس 
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Abstract
Lungs are among the most prominent target organs for nodular lesions. (Janet, 1998).
The detection of nodular lesions on chest radiographs is an important task for radiologists. Because subtle nodules tend to be low in contrast and often overlap with ribs and clavicles, radiologists may fail to detect nodules in 20%–30% of actually positive cases (Shunji et al., 2002).
Computed tomography (CT) is generally accepted as the most accurate imaging modality to help identify pulmonary disease. In particular, CT provides the precise localization of lung nodules, allows reliable determination of their features, and shows a reasonably high sensitivity in detecting nodules smaller than 5 mm (Munden et al., 1997).
It has been shown that early detection of these small lesions can substantially alter patient care. Thus, CT could become an important primary screening method (Hazelrigg et al., 1997).
Despite numerous technical improvements, modern diagnosis of lung nodules can still be divided into three partially overlapping stages: (1) detection, (2) characterization, and (3) follow-up and management.