A method for detecting a design-impacting defect in an integrated circuit substrate is disclosed. In one implementation, a controller determines a distribution of intended geometric features in a design window of the integrated circuit substrate based on proximities of a plurality of points of interest in the design window to the intended geometric features. The controller obtains a set of intended contours from the distribution. The controller obtains a set of imaged contours from one or more images of the integrated circuit substrate. The controller compares the set of imaged contours to the set of intended contours to obtain a set of potential design-impacting defects in the intended geometric features. The controller determines a probability that a potential design-impacting defect from the set of potential design-impacting defects is a valid design-impacting defect. The controller takes a corrective action based on the determined probability.