Influence of experience on scanning strategies in mammography

The goal of this study was to determine if there are significant differences in the ways in which experienced and inexperienced radiologists search mammograms for the detection of lesions. The eye position of six radiologists (3 staff mammographers, 3 radiology residents) was recorded as they searched mammograms for masses and microcalcifications. True and false positive decisions were associated with prolonged gaze durations; false-negative decisions were associated with longer gaze durations than true-negatives. Readers with more experience tended to detect lesions earlier in search than readers with less experience; but those with less experience tended to spend more time overall searching the images and cover more image area than those with more experience. Mammographic search for readers with different degrees of experience can be characterized by gaze durations, scan paths and detection times.