Medical images are increasingly being examined on computer monitors. In contrast to the traditional film viewbox, the use of computer displays often involves a trade-off between the number and size of images shown and the available screen space. This paper focuses on two solutions to this problem: the thumbnail technique and the detail-in-context technique. The thumbnail technique, implemented in many current commercial medical imaging systems, presents an overview of the images in a thumbnail bar while selected images are magnified in a separate window. Our earlier work suggested the use of a detail-in-context technique which displays all images in one window utilizing multiple magnification levels. We conducted a controlled experiment to evaluate both techniques. No significant difference was found for performance and preference. However, differences were found in the interaction patterns and comments provided by the participants. The detail-in-context technique accommodated many individual strategies and offered good capabilities for comparing different images whereas the thumbnail technique strongly encouraged sequential examination of the images and allowed for high magnification factors. Given the results of this study, our research suggests new alternatives to the presentation of medical images and provides an increased understanding of the usability of existing medical image viewing methods.

Date Published: 28 May 2001
PDF: 10 pages
Proc. SPIE 4319, Medical Imaging 2001: Visualization, Display, and Image-Guided Procedures, (28 May 2001); doi: 10.1117/12.428097

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 4319:
Medical Imaging 2001: Visualization, Display, and Image-Guided Procedures
Seong Ki Mun, Editor(s)