Image toggling saves time in mammography

• Published in: Journal of medical imaging (Bellingham, Wash.) Vol. 3; no. 1; p. 011003
• Main Authors: Drew, Trafton, Aizenman, Avi M, Thompson, Matthew B, Kovacs, Mark D, Trambert, Michael, Reicher, Murray A, Wolfe, Jeremy M
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers 01-01-2016
• Subjects: Special Section on Medical Image Perception and Observer Performance; change blindness; detection; perceptual errors; display technology; visual search
• ISSN: 2329-4302; 2329-4310
• DOI: 10.1117/1.JMI.3.1.011003

When two images are perfectly aligned, even subtle differences are readily detected when the images are "toggled" back and forth in the same location. However, substantial changes between two photographs can be missed if the images are misaligned ("change blindness"). Nevertheless, recent work from our lab, testing nonradiologists, suggests that toggling misaligned photographs leads to superior performance compared to side-by-side viewing (SBS). In order to determine if a benefit of toggling misaligned images may be observed in clinical mammography, we developed an image toggling technique where pairs of new and prior breast imaging exam images could be efficiently toggled back and forth. Twenty-three radiologists read 10 mammograms evenly divided in toggle and SBS modes. The toggle mode led to a 6-s benefit in reaching a decision [t(22)=5.11, p<.05]. The toggle viewing mode also led to a 5% improvement in diagnostic accuracy, though in our small sample this effect was not statistically reliable. Time savings were found even though successive mammograms were not perfectly aligned. Given the ever-increasing caseload for radiologists, this simple manipulation of how the images are viewed could save valuable time in clinical practice, allowing radiologists to read more cases or spend more time on difficult cases.