Gaze-Controlled Radiograph Support Hides Alerts Until Interpretation Ends
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current image interpretation support techniques interfere with the interpretation process, leading to oversight issues, as they either rely too heavily on support information or require distracting input methods, making it difficult for medical professionals to concentrate on image interpretation without interruptions.
Innovation Solution
An image interpretation support apparatus that detects a user's line of sight and completion of image interpretation, dynamically switching support information display on and off to avoid interference, allowing focused attention on unexamined lesion portions and alerting for fatigue, thereby enhancing concentration and efficiency.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If support information indicating a candidate lesion portion is displayed in a medical image, then a person who reads an image is informed on which part to gaze at during image interpretation, but the person who reads an image unintentionally relies on the support information too much, and autonomous interpretation by the person who reads an image is suppressed, or a lesion portion is visually obstructed by the support information, thereby interfering with image interpretation by the person who reads an image
Solution Approach 1:
The display control unit dynamically switches between first display state (support information not displayed) and second display state (support information displayed) based on detection of line-of-sight position and interpretation progress. This dynamic adjustment allows the system to provide support information only when the reader needs guidance, while maintaining autonomous interpretation capability when the reader is actively examining the image.
Solution Approach 2:
The system detects the line-of-sight position of the person reading the image and automatically determines when to display or hide support information without requiring manual input from the reader. The completion detecting unit detects when image interpretation is completed, and the system self-adjusts the display state accordingly, reducing interference while maintaining reliability.
2Ease of operation
If support information is displayed in a region that does not overlap a candidate lesion portion, then autonomous interpretation is maintained, but the image display region becomes smaller and the burden of switching operation increases
Solution Approach 1:
Rather than statically positioning support information in non-overlapping regions, the system dynamically controls the visibility of support information based on real-time detection of line-of-sight position and interpretation completion. This allows full utilization of the image display region while providing support information only when and where needed.
3Ease of operation
If voice input is used for image operation such as enlargement and reduction, then image operation can be performed without touching anything in a situation of clinical practice where both hands are occupied, but reliable operation is hindered in an environment that is disturbed by noise, such as other human voices, background music, or the like because voice input is necessary
Solution Approach 1:
The system uses a line-of-sight detecting unit to automatically detect where the person is looking and determines line-of-sight position without requiring any input from the user. The completion detecting unit automatically detects when image interpretation is completed. This self-service approach eliminates the need for voice input or other manual operations, providing hands-free control while maintaining reliability even in noisy environments.
4Ease of operation
If a command corresponding to a displayed icon is performed when a line-of-sight position is moved to the displayed icon and the displayed icon is gazed at for a predetermined period of time, then image operation can be performed without touching anything, but it is needed to move a line-of-sight position to the icon and an effect of avoiding interfering with image interpretation performed by a person who reads an image is not expected
Solution Approach 1:
The system continuously detects the line-of-sight position in real-time without requiring the user to deliberately move their gaze to specific icons or buttons. The completion detecting unit is prepared to detect interpretation completion at any moment, and the display control unit proactively switches display states based on detected line-of-sight position and interpretation progress, eliminating the need for deliberate line-of-sight movement to control elements.
Data Source
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AI summary
An object of the present invention is to provide an image interpretation support apparatus and method to avoid oversight by a radiologist without interfering with image interpretation performed by the radiologist. An image interpretation support apparatus (12) includes a line-of-sight detecting unit (32) that detects a line of sight of a person who reads the image, a gaze determining unit (33) that determines, in accordance with a detection result obtained by the line-of-sight detecting unit, whether a candidate lesion portion in an image to be interpreted that is displayed on a display unit (24) has been gazed at by the person who reads the image, a completion detecting unit (35) that detects completion of image interpretation, by the person who reads the image, of the image to be interpreted that is displayed on the display unit, and a display control unit that, in a case where the completion detecting unit detects the completion of the image interpretation and the gaze determining unit determines that the candidate lesion portion has not been gazed at, switches from a first display state in which the image to be interpreted is displayed on the display unit and support information is not displayed to a second display state in which at least the support information is displayed on the display unit.