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British Journal of Radiology (2006) 79, 83
© 2006 British Institute of Radiology
doi: 10.1259/bjr/18395574
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Correspondence

Social factors in improving radiological perception

The Editor—Sir,

Manning, Gale and Krupinski are absolutely correct when they state "good displays and tools are clearly necessary......but what we need to understand is how the Radiologist interacts with the displayed information during the reading process in order to determine how we can further improve decision making" [1]. They identify many of the perceptual, cognitive and ergonomic factors. Social factors also need to be addressed. There is considerable opportunity for improved knowledge sharing among radiologists. Performance can be improved by knowing where in particular to look and what exactly to look for in different clinical scenarios. While subspecialization is important in improving perception, targeted instruction and top up training can improve the performance of all [2]. We need to have much more extensive prompt feedback of our discrepancies and errors. The prevalence of eye strain among radiologists has been reported [3] as has the medicolegal implications of reporting at a significantly faster rate than average [4]. There is no magic solution that will produce a perfect imaging perceptual process. However, the social dimension of reporting needs to be included to optimize our performance.

Yours etc.,

R Fitzgerald

Consultant Radiologist, Radiology Department, New Cross, Wolverhampton, WV10 0QP UK

Received for publication August 12, 2005. Accepted for publication August 23, 2005.

References

  1. Manning DJ, Gale A, Krupinski EA. Commentary: Perception research in medical imaging. Br J Radiol 2005;78:683–5.[Free Full Text]
  2. FitzGerald R. Radiological error: analysis, standard setting, targeted instruction and teamworking. Eur Radiol 2005;15:1760–7.[CrossRef][Medline]
  3. Vertinsky T, Forster B. Prevalence of eye strain among radiologists. Influence of viewing variables on symptoms. AJR Am J Roentgenol 2005;184:681–6.[Abstract/Free Full Text]
  4. Berlin L. Liability of interpreting too many radiographs. AJR Am J Roentgenol 2000;175:17–22.[Free Full Text]




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