title: Influence of Experience and Training on Dental Students' Examination Performance Regarding Panoramic Images.
abstract: Physician training has greatly benefitted from insights gained in understanding the manner in which experts search medical images for abnormalities. The aims of this study were to compare the search patterns of 30 fourth-year dental students and 15 certified oral and maxillofacial radiologists (OMRs) over panoramic images and to determine the most robust variables for future studies involving image visualization. Eye tracking was used to capture the eye movement patterns of both subject groups when examining 20 panoramic images classified as normal or abnormal. Abnormal images were further subclassified as having an obvious, intermediate, or subtle abnormality. The images were presented in random order to each participant, and data were collected on duration of the participants' observations and total distance tracked, time to first eye fixation, and total duration and numbers of fixations on and off the area of interest (AOI). The results showed that the OMRs covered greater distances than the dental students (p<0.001) for normal images. For images of pathosis, the OMRs required less total time (p<0.001), made fewer eye fixations (p<0.01) with fewer saccades (p<0.001) than the students, and required less time before making the first fixation on the AOI (p<0.01). Furthermore, the OMRs covered less distance (p<0.001) than the dental students for obvious pathoses. For investigations of images of pathosis, time to first fixation is a robust parameter in predicting ability. For images with different levels of subtlety of pathoses, the number of fixations, total time spent, and numbers of revisits are important parameters to analyze when comparing observer groups with different levels of experience.
authors.affiliation: Dr. Turgeon is Assistant Professor, Département de Stomatologie, Faculté de Médecine Dentaire, Université de Montréal and a Diplomate, American Board of Oral and Maxillofacial Radiology; Dr. Lam is Professor, Head of the Discipline of Oral and Maxillofacial Radiology, and Dr. Lloyd and Mrs. Kay Chapman Chair in Clinical Sciences, Faculty of Dentistry, University of Toronto and a Diplomate, American Board of Oral and Maxillofacial Radiology daniel.p.turgeon@umontreal.ca.
authors.forename: Daniel P
authors.initials: DP
authors.lastname: Turgeon
authors.affiliation: Dr. Turgeon is Assistant Professor, Département de Stomatologie, Faculté de Médecine Dentaire, Université de Montréal and a Diplomate, American Board of Oral and Maxillofacial Radiology; Dr. Lam is Professor, Head of the Discipline of Oral and Maxillofacial Radiology, and Dr. Lloyd and Mrs. Kay Chapman Chair in Clinical Sciences, Faculty of Dentistry, University of Toronto and a Diplomate, American Board of Oral and Maxillofacial Radiology.
authors.forename: Ernest W N
authors.initials: EW
authors.lastname: Lam
mesh_terms: D001767:Blinking / Q000502:physiology; D002983:Clinical Competence; D004497:Education, Dental; D004521:Educational Measurement / Q000379:methods*; D005133:Eye Movements / Q000502:physiology; D005403:Fixation, Ocular / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D007570:Jaw Cysts / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D009808:Odontogenic Tumors / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D019252:Radiography, Dental, Digital; D011862:Radiography, Panoramic; D011871:Radiology / Q000193:education*; D012438:Saccades / Q000502:physiology; D015494:Salivary Gland Calculi / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D013335:Students, Dental; D013997:Time Factors; D014096:Tooth, Supernumerary / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging
keywords: dental education; diagnostic reasoning; educational measurement; eye-tracking; oral and maxillofacial radiology; oral radiology; radiographs