Influence of "optical illusion" on detectability in diagnosis for head CT images: participation of optical illusion of light perception in medical image reading and diagnosis

Even if the visual impression of the photographic density of the brain in head CT images is shown as physically the same, it is known that optical illusions of lightness perception (assimilation, contrast, picture frame effect, etc.) occur and that practical density can be observed psychologically differently, according to differences in the color of the skull and background, and differences in cases (differences in picture pattern). Therefore, in this study, in order to clarify the influence of optical illusion on detectability in diagnosis, the author attempted to compare detectability in four sample cases, consisting of acute cerebral infarction (1), acute epidural hematoma (1), and chronic subdural hematoma (2), using visual subjective evaluation. In the case of acute cerebral infarction, there was no significant difference in detectability between the original image and the virtual images. Further, it clarified that the original head CT image (acute epidural hematoma) with the high-density hematoma recognized at the marginal limited part of the brain was inferior to virtual images in detectability, while it clarified that the original head CT image (chronic subdural hematoma) with the low-density hematoma was superior to virtual images in detectability, because of visual psychological emphasis on the difference of the film contrast between the hematoma and white skull.