Effects of visual fixation cues on the detectability of simulated breast lesions

John S. Nafziger; Jeffrey P. Johnson; Jeffrey Lubin

doi:10.1117/12.596298

6 April 2005 Effects of visual fixation cues on the detectability of simulated breast lesions

John S. Nafziger, Jeffrey P. Johnson, Jeffrey Lubin

Proceedings Volume 5749, Medical Imaging 2005: Image Perception, Observer Performance, and Technology Assessment; (2005) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.596298
Event: Medical Imaging, 2005, San Diego, California, United States

Abstract

A discrepancy exists between two studies that investigated psychophysical detection of simulated lesions (e.g. gaussians or designer nodules) embedded in filtered noise images (Johnson et al, 2002; Burgess et al, 2003). Johnson et al, 2002 identified a significant difference in the slope of the contrast detail plots (CD plots) as the presentation methodology in a 2AFC task was changed from the unlike background (unpaired) to identical backgrounds (paired). In comparable experiments, Burgess et al, 2003 challenged the results by finding no difference between the slopes (both positive) of the CD plots when using paired backgrounds or unpaired backgrounds. We found that a significant difference between the two studies, namely the presence of a circular fixation cue was responsible for the discrepancy. The detection noise due to positional uncertainty was sufficient to reduce subject's threshold for small target diameters. This effect was amplified in the paired background, switching the CD plot from a negative slope (without fixation) to a positive slope (with fixation). The effect was less dramatic with the unpaired backgrounds, however intra-observer variability seemed to be reduced with fixation cues. These results significantly reduce the discrepancies in C-D characteristics between the two studies.

Citation Download Citation

John S. Nafziger, Jeffrey P. Johnson, and Jeffrey Lubin "Effects of visual fixation cues on the detectability of simulated breast lesions", Proc. SPIE 5749, Medical Imaging 2005: Image Perception, Observer Performance, and Technology Assessment, (6 April 2005); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.596298

ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE

INSTITUTIONAL
Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.

SELECT YOUR INSTITUTION

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.

PERSONAL SIGN IN

No SPIE Account? Create one

PURCHASE THIS CONTENT

SUBSCRIBE TO DIGITAL LIBRARY

50 downloads per 1-year subscription

Members: $195

Non-members: $335 ADD TO CART

25 downloads per 1 - year subscription

Members: $145

Non-members: $250 ADD TO CART

PURCHASE SINGLE ARTICLE

Includes PDF, HTML & Video, when available