title: Image toggling saves time in mammography.
abstract: 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 [[Formula: see text], [Formula: see text]]. 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.
authors: University of Utah , Department of Psychology, Salt Lake City, Utah 84122, United States.
authors: Trafton
authors: T
authors: Drew
authors: Brigham and Women's Hospital , Department of Surgery, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, United States.
authors: Avi M
authors: AM
authors: Aizenman
authors: Brigham and Women's Hospital, Department of Surgery, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, United States; The University of Queensland, School of Psychology, Brisbane, Queensland 4072, Australia.
authors: Matthew B
authors: MB
authors: Thompson
authors: Medical University of South Carolina , Department of Radiology, Charleston, South Carolina 29425, United States.
authors: Mark D
authors: MD
authors: Kovacs
authors: Cottage Health System, Department of Radiology, Santa Barbara, California 93110, United States; The Sansum Clinic, Department of Radiology, Santa Barbara, California 93110, United States; Merge Healthcare, San Diego, California 92121, United States.
authors: Michael
authors: M
authors: Trambert
authors: Merge Healthcare , San Diego, California 92121, United States.
authors: Murray A
authors: MA
authors: Reicher
authors: Brigham and Women's Hospital, Department of Surgery, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, United States; Harvard Medical School, Department of Surgery, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, United States.
authors: Jeremy M
authors: JM
authors: Wolfe
keywords: change blindness; detection; display technology; perceptual errors; visual search