Satisfaction of search experiments in advanced imaging

This is the authors' abstract. We don't add key points for this paper.

The objective of our research is to understand the perception of multiple abnormalities in an imaging examination and to develop strategies for improved diagnostic. We are one of the few laboratories in the world pursuing the goal of reducing detection errors through a better understanding of the underlying perceptual processes involved. Failure to detect an abnormality is the most common class of error in diagnostic imaging and generally is considered the most serious by the medical community. Many of these errors have been attributed to "satisfaction of search," which occurs when a lesion is not reported because discovery of another abnormality has "satisfied" the goal of the search. We have gained some understanding of the mechanisms of satisfaction of search (SOS) traditional radiographic modalities. Currently, there are few interventions to remedy SOS error. For example, patient history that the prompts specific abnormalities, protects the radiologist from missing them even when other abnormalities are present. The knowledge gained from this programmatic research will lead to reduction of observer error.