The Effect of Window Size on Pathologists' Search for Rare Elements in a Digital Pathology Setting

Digital pathology requires pathologists to assess tissue digitally rather than on an analog microscope, which has been the mainstay tool for tissue assessment for more than a century. The impact of different digital interaction configurations on pathologists' performance is not well understood. This work focuses on the impact of the display window size for diagnostic assessment.

To determine the effect of digital image viewer window size on pathologists' diagnostic performance when searching for tumors in lymph nodes while under a time limit.

Six pathologists assessed 8 breast lymph node whole slide images using 4 digital image viewer window sizes (8, 14, 24, and 32 inches) for tumors in lymph nodes while under a time limit. Eye-gaze data were collected. Pathologists were subsequently asked to rate their preference of window sizes.

The fraction of window not covered with foveated vision was significantly associated with window size ranging from 43% for 32 inches to 5% for 8 inches (P < .001). There was no statistically significant relationship between the number of false negatives or assessment time and window size (P = .21 and P = .28, respectively). The distance traversed per panning instance ranged from 301 pixels for 32-inch to 193 pixels for 8-inch windows (P = .002). All pathologists preferred the largest window size as it provided more context for diagnostic assessment.

Window size does not significantly affect pathologists' diagnostic performance when searching for tumors in lymph nodes. However, pathologists adapted their slide navigation approach to accommodate the amount of context the window size permitted.