PurposeDiagnostic errors are common in radiology. The gestalt impression of an image refers to the rapid holistic understanding one formulates about an image and may facilitate improved diagnostic accuracy. The ability to generate a gestalt impression is typically acquired over time and is generally not explicitly taught. Our study aims to assess whether perceptual training using second look and minification technique (SLMT) can help image interpreters formulate a holistic understanding of an image and become more accurate at evaluating medical images.ApproachFourteen healthcare trainees voluntarily participated in a perceptual training module, comparing the differences in detection of nodules and other actionable finding (OAF) on chest radiographs before and after perceptual training intervention. The experimental group received SLMT training, and the control group did not.ResultsSurvey results were positive for all items, with the p-values < 0.01. There was improvement in the performance in detection of nodules and OAF in both groups. However, this change was statistically significant only for OAFs in the control group (p-value < 0.05) but not the experimental group.ConclusionsSLMT training was viewed by participants as an extremely helpful educational tool. Survey results indicated that participants felt the SLMT was a beneficial educational intervention. The experimental group’s detection of nodules and OAF improved after SLMT, though not statistically significantly so, which may be related to the small sample size or lack of training effect. Perceptual training using SLMT may help as a useful educational technique, help radiologists identify abnormalities, and improve workflow.
Identification of abnormalities in radiology is predicated on one’s gestalt understanding of normal imaging findings. This study assesses whether perceptual training using high-volume chest radiography (HVCXR) can help develop an understanding of the normal appearance of a chest radiograph (CXR) and improve one’s ability to identify pulmonary nodules on CXR. Eight radiology residents were split into two groups where the experimental group received high volume chest radiography training, where they viewed 500 CXRs at the rate of 1 CXR every 3 seconds, while the control group did not. Both groups were then tasked to identify pulmonary nodules on a set of chest radiographs. Afterwards, the two groups switched interventions and worked on localizing pulmonary nodules on a third case set of chest radiographs. Performance at nodule identification was worse in the experimental and control groups after they had received HVCXR training, which was unexpected. We hypothesize that this decrease in performance was due to fatigue from the HVCXR intervention.
Prior studies have shown positive effects of perceptual training (PT), however there is a paucity of literature regarding the long-term retention. The goal of this study is to assess the degree of long term retention three months after an initial PT training session. Eight first year residents underwent perceptual training with repeat training 87 days later. Comparison of their performance showed that though their performance was lower compared to the initial training, this was not statistically significant, suggesting some degree of retention of PT.
Access to the requested content is limited to institutions that have purchased or subscribe to SPIE eBooks.
You are receiving this notice because your organization may not have SPIE eBooks access.*
*Shibboleth/Open Athens users─please
sign in
to access your institution's subscriptions.
To obtain this item, you may purchase the complete book in print or electronic format on
SPIE.org.
INSTITUTIONAL Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.
PERSONAL Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.