CAD Markers During Concurrent Reading of CT Colonography Images Studied

Results of a study to find the effects of readers’ use of Computer-Aided Detection (CAD), on visual search and performance in Computed Tomography Colonography (CTC) have been published in the June 2015 issue of the journal European Radiology.

The researchers investigated how 17 experienced, and 25 inexperienced readers interpreted a number of CTC examinations, each with a polyp, some with a CAD mark and some without. The researchers generated videos and used eye tracking to follow the visual gaze of the readers.

The study was carried out by researchers from the University College London Center for Medical Imaging (UCL; London, UK), the University of Oxford (Oxford, UK) and several other research centers.

The researchers found that the readers’ visual gaze was attracted by polyps with CAD marks, more so with inexperienced readers than for experienced readers, and this could lead to the readers neglecting the unannotated endoluminal surface. On the whole, CAD significantly increased correct polyp identification for both groups of readers.

The researchers concluded that during reading of 3-D endoluminal CTC images, CAD significantly alters visual search and polyp identification behavior. Another conclusion was that CAD was a significant distraction for inexperienced readers before and during polyp visibility.

Related Links:
UCL Center for Medical Imaging 
University of Oxford