Employing eye tracking to identify the onset of fatigue in Digital Breast Tomosynthesis (DBT) readers for a national breast cancer screening programme

Roy, Dorina; Koh, Amanda; Gale, Alastair G.; Phillips, Peter; Teh, William; Michell, Michael; Sharma, Nisha; Darker, Iain T.; Searjeant, Mitchell; Sudin, Ellhia; Chen, Yan

doi:10.1117/12.2580968

Cited by 1 publication

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“…The eye tracking data from 17 of the 26 participants in this study were previously analysed, 20 however, the analysis was limited and has been expanded here, providing a ‘per case’ breakdown. The 26 participants analysed in this study form a subset of a previously published and more recent study.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Measuring reader fatigue in the interpretation of screening digital breast tomosynthesis (DBT)

Chen

Sudin

Partridge

et al. 2023

BJR

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Objectives: The interpretation of digital breast tomosynthesis (DBT) screening examinations is a complex task for an already overstretched workforce which has the potential to increase pressure on readers leading to fatigue and patient safety issues. Studies in non-medical and medical settings have suggested that changes in blink characteristics can reflect fatigue. The purpose of this study is to investigate the use of blink characteristics as an objective marker of fatigue in readers interpreting DBT breast screening examinations. Methods: Twenty-six DBT readers involved in the UK PROSPECTS trial interpreted a test set of 40 DBT cases while being observed by an eye tracking device from November 2019 to February 2021. Raw data from the eye tracker were collected and automated processing software was used to produce eye blinking characteristics data which were analysed using multiple linear regression statistical models. Results: Of the 26 DBT readers recruited, eye tracking data from 23 participants were analysed due to missing data rendering 3 participants’ data uninterpretable. The mean reading time per DBT case was 2.81 min. There was a statistically significant increase in blinking duration of 0.38 ms/case as the reading session progressed (p < 0.0001). This was the result of a significant decrease in the number of ultra-short blinks lasting ≤50 ms (p = 0.0005) and a significant increase in longer blinks lasting 51–100 ms (p = 0.008). Conclusion Changes in blinking characteristics could serve as objective measures of reader fatigue and may prove useful in the development of DBT reading protocols. Advances in knowledge: Blink characteristics can be used as an objective measure of fatigue; however there is limited evidence of their use in radiological settings. Our study suggests that changes in blink duration and frequency could be used to monitor fatigue in DBT reading sessions.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%