Testing of the assisting software for radiologists analysing head CT images: lessons learned

BMC Medical Imaging

Research Article

Vesa-Matti Koivisto¹  Ilkka Lindgren²  Monika Gretsch²  Jarmo Reponen³  Jani Saunavaara⁴  Anssi Mäkynen⁵  Katri Kukkola⁵  Petr Martynov⁵  Nikolai Mitropolskii⁵ 

[1] Department of Radiology, Lapland Hospital District, PO Box 8041, 96101, Rovaniemi, Finland;Department of Radiology, Oulu University Hospital, PO Box 50, 90029, Oulu, Finland;Finntelemedicum, Research Unit of Medical Imaging, Physics and Technology, University of Oulu; Department of Radiology, Hospital of Raahe, PL 25, 92101, Raahe, Finland;Medical Imaging Centre of Southwest Finland, Turku University Hospital, PO Box 52, 20521, Turku, Finland;Optoelectronics and Measurement Techniques Unit, University of Oulu, PO Box 4500, 90014, Oulu, Finland;

关键词: Computer software;    Search engine;    Brain imaging;    Computed tomography;    Research design;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12880-017-0229-1

 received in 2017-03-02, accepted in 2017-11-14,  发布年份 2017

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundAssessing a plan for user testing and evaluation of the assisting software developed for radiologists.MethodsTest plan was assessed in experimental testing, where users performed reporting on head computed tomography studies with the aid of the software developed. The user testing included usability tests, questionnaires, and interviews. In addition, search relevance was assessed on the basis of user opinions.ResultsThe testing demonstrated weaknesses in the initial plan and enabled improvements. Results showed that the software has acceptable usability level but some minor fixes are needed before larger-scale pilot testing. The research also proved that it is possible even for radiologists with under a year’s experience to perform reporting of non-obvious cases when assisted by the software developed. Due to the small number of test users, it was impossible to assess effects on diagnosis quality.ConclusionsThe results of the tests performed showed that the test plan designed is useful, and answers to the key research questions should be forthcoming after testing with more radiologists. The preliminary testing revealed opportunities to improve test plan and flow, thereby illustrating that arranging preliminary test sessions prior to any complex scenarios is beneficial.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© The Author(s). 2017