2007 July

With continued procedural growth and study volume, the aging of digital imaging exams and ever-increasing demand for complex 3D image sets in MR and CT, the proliferation of digital images has created a challenge shared by today’s radiology and IT directors, as well as CIOs addressing image management from an enterprise level.

Computer assisted detection for mammography first entered the scene in the late 1990s. Approval by the FDA with subsequent granting of increased reimbursement for the use of CAD by Medicare launched adoption of this technology into hospitals and imaging centers across North America.

University of Washington (UW) Medical Center in Seattle, Wash., is a PACS pioneer, first deploying digital image management a decade ago. Today, the hospital and its radiology department continue to stand at the leading edge of technology.

Applying CAD to chest and lung imaging has a special urgency, since the five-year lung cancer survival rate is so low and early detection is so difficult. Imaging advances are honing in on smaller and smaller nodules and research shows that CAD is helping radiologists find more of those nodules.

Diagnostic Imaging Services (DIS) is a five-site freestanding imaging practice located in the greater New Orleans area. Unfortunately, the practice experienced disaster first-hand when Hurricane Katrina hit in August 2005.

Magnetic resonance imaging of the breast serves a unique and important function in the battle against breast cancer. This adjunct to mammography and ultrasound often provides vital information for specific circumstances, such as screening women at high risk of breast cancer, and computer aided detection (CAD) for MRI enables additional valuable clinical insight.

Rush-Copley Medical Center in Aurora, Ill., epitomizes the busy community hospital committed to leading edge technology.

The myriad twists and turns of the colon make it an area ripe for tools that help clinicians get better pictures and a helping hand in detecting suspicous areas that could be cancers and polyps, the precursors of colorectal cancers.

Along with improvements in reconstruction tools, 3D functionality issaving time, improving patient care and facilitating overall workflowimprovements.

Within media, there is a key concept called information design. This combines the art and science of preparing information so it is effectively and efficiently used by human beings.

The explosion in coronary CTA has created a need to educate practitioners on its appropriateness of use—who, what, when, where, and why.

The digital dashboard not only steers daily PACS and imaging operations, but also can color the roadmap for future travels.

Fully capable equipment about the size of a laptop combined with ever-increasing image quality is boosting ultrasound’s clinical utility.

1.5T has become the MRI workhorse—with more applications such as breast imaging and faster scan times.

Single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) has proven itselfover time in imaging patients with suspected or confirmed coronaryartery disease. Not only has it stood up to several new technologies,the list of indications for SPECT is growing. Greater speed andrelatively low costs are just what the healthcare industry needs.

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