Visual interpretation of clinical images among dental students using eye-tracking technology

Area of Science:

• Ophthalmology
• Dental Education
• Medical Imaging Analysis

Background:

• Tele-consultations are increasingly utilized for medical screening and diagnosis.
• Limited research exists on dental students' visual attention to clinical images.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess dental students' gaze behavior, visual fixations, and diagnostic competence with clinical images.
• To identify opportunities for enhancing dental education's teaching-learning strategies.

Main Methods:

• A cross-sectional study involving 65 dental undergraduate students.
• Eye-tracking data collected using a Tobii Pro Nano device.
• Think-aloud protocol used with no viewing time restrictions.

Main Results:

• Analysis of 325 clinical pictures with an average viewing time of 189.25 ± 76.90 seconds.
• Students fixated on prominent image features but demonstrated diagnostic incompetence.
• Viewing patterns were unsystematic, often following a 'Z' pattern, lacking sequential analysis.

Conclusions:

• Despite fixating on salient areas of interest, students often failed to diagnose correctly.
• Lack of systematic viewing patterns was observed.
• Enhanced knowledge of dental abnormalities and thorough clinical image review are recommended to improve diagnostic skills.