2007 December

Predicting the future is enticing—if only we could look inside acrystal ball and see what the future has in store. While a crystal ballcan’t truly offer a future glimpse, a lot of people spend a lot of timelooking forward and creating the technology vision of tomorrow. Asyou’ll see in this month’s cover story, we’ve gathered the thoughts ofleaders on their vision for 2012.

Radiology is evolving at breakneck pace with clinical needs,demographic realities and IT development converging to create change.Looking into radiology’s crystal ball is never an exact science.

Southern Ohio Medical Center is a voice recognition success story. Thecenter’s interest in voice recognition technology dates back to 1995 aspart of a project to improve efficiency among radiologists and reducefinal report turnaround time. roject manager, RIS/PACS Administrator Howard Stewart, offers some pointers for his colleagues.

Post-processing software allows clinicians to better track cancertherapies, plan surgeries, and diagnose heart, brain and intestinaldisease. Newer tools let users subtract unnecessary structures,allowing for better evaluation of problem areas. Use of and uses forthe software will only increase as data sets grow and new applicationsare added to the list.

No more missing films. No more empty file jackets. And no more wastedoffice space crammed full of x-ray films, folders, chemicals andprocessors.  And that’s just the icing on the cake: the overallimprovements in practice efficiencies and patient care, along with aquick return on investment are among the concrete benefits of adoptingan orthopedic picture archiving and communications system (PACS) tostore and retrieve digital x-ray images via a computed radiography (CR)system.

Several factors are impacting the MRI market. On one hand, providersare seeing an upswing in some studies. Breast MRI, for example, hasdemonstrated its utility in women with a high risk of developing breastcancer with many facilities reporting a doubling of studies since ayear ago, and other scans like prostate MRI are expected to follow asimilar pattern.

Echocardiography has been the most widely-used diagnostic test forheart disease for more than 50 years for good reason. It’s portable,safe and technological advancements keep the modality at the forefrontof screening and diagnosing heart disease. Looking ahead, cardiologistsare eyeing 4D cardiac imaging and ever-smaller equipment.

With the sharp surge in digital mammography system implementations,mammography CAD is riding the curve, too. This “second set of eyes”that helps to confirm radiological findings in mammograms, makes sensefrom both a cost perspective and the potential it offers to detect morebreast lesions, according to many radiologists.

Radiologists have come a long way from cramped offices tucked away in ahospital basement. Newer facilities appreciate the need for productiveworkspace that allows for individuality and effective consultationswith other physicians, patients and families. From furniture tomonitors to the environment itself, many reading rooms are nowstate-of-the-art.

Radiology is evolving at breakneck pace with clinical needs,demographic realities and IT development converging to create change.Looking into radiology’s crystal ball is never an exact science.

Select an Issue