CHICAGO--The reporting system of the future could embed serial images to reveal the progression of malignant tumors. David J. Vining, MD, medical director of the image processing and visualization laboratory at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, revealed his vision for a new style of reporting in a quiet corner of the quantitative imaging reading room during the 96th annual scientific meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA).

“We don’t do a good job of tracking tumors in verbal reports,” Vining. admitted to Health Imaging News. His brainchild--Multi-media Structured Reporting for Tumor Monitoring--consists of a structured report system with a single page view that encapsulates composited image findings.

How does it work? The application acquires a screen capture of a key image from any PACS platform. The image is cropped and uploaded to a server for inclusion in the report. Images are digitally stacked in the report to show disease progression.

Vining said the system will begin clinical trials at MD Anderson early in 2011.