ABSTRACT
There are many steps in the imaging chain before a clinical radiology case (i.e., images) makes it to the radiologist's work list and computer workstation, including acquisition, transformation from a “raw” image to “for presentation” image, perhaps some compression, depending on the modality and application, or possibly some transformation from a series of individual images into a fully reconstructed 3D rendered volumetric image. The images can be archived and transmitted from one institution to another for interpretation or other purposes. No matter what steps precede, the final clinical step is the interpretation by the radiologist or other qualified clinician (e.g., an obstetrician interpreting a fetal ultrasound) of the image data. Currently, nearly all radiographic images are displayed on and interpreted from some sort of electronic digital display. Other chapters have already reviewed the more technical parameters of medical image displays, including a technology overview, quality control and the DICOM GSDF (Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine Grayscale Standard Display Function) (see Section I, Chapter 64). Although the DICOM GSDF takes the perceptual capabilities of the human observer into account, a broader discussion of the role of the human observer in display optimization and how observers interact with displays is the focus of this chapter.
