Different Search Patterns and Similar Decision Outcomes: How Can Experts Agree in the Decisions They Make When Reading Digital Mammograms?

Experts may agree in most decisions that they make when they read a case set of digital mammograms, but eye-position tracking studies suggest that they use very different visual search strategies to make such decisions. If indeed each expert uses a unique strategy, it may be very difficult to teach radiology trainees effective ways to search the background parenchyma. In this study, we examined how much agreement exists in the actual locations used by the experts in their decision making process when reading digital mammograms.