Radiologists spend a lot of time looking at prior radiographs in order to detect changes, but this skill isn't often formally taught or tested, according to a research team from South Glasgow Hospitals.
To help radiologists develop and test their skills, the researchers used Photoshop image editing software to create a series of 20 paired chest radiographs. A total of 50 differences were introduced from the original images.
Ten experienced volunteer radiologists then viewed the image pairs using PowerPoint and attempted to point out the differences. The authors were surprised at how variable the results were, said presenter Brian Mucci, MD.
"We believe that this could have a serious role in training new radiologists and could be a way to improve and validate vigilance skills for radiologists in the future," he said.
