Cost benefit analysis of portable chest radiography through glass: Initial experience at a tertiary care centre during COVID-19 pandemic.

Introduction: Portable chest radiography through glass (TG-CXR) is a novel technique, particularly useful during the COVID-19 (Coronavirus disease 2019) pandemic. The purpose of this study was to understand the cost and benefit of adopting TG-CXR in quantifiable terms.

Methods: Portable or bedside radiographs are typically performed by a team of two technologists.

MR imaging in the presence of ballistic debris of unknown composition: a review of the literature and practical approach.

Due to a combination of increasing indications for MR imaging, increased MRI accessibility, and extensive global armed conflict over the last few decades, an increasing number of patients now and in the future will present with retained metallic ballistic debris of unknown composition. To date, there are no guidelines on how to safely image these patients which may result in patients who would benefit from MRI not receiving it. In this article, we review the current literature pertaining to the MRI safety of retained ballistic materials and present the process we use to safely image these patients.

Establishing Diagnostic Reference Levels for CT Through a Provincial Medical Informatics Metadata Repository in Ontario.

Purpose: To determine whether computed tomography radiation dose data could be captured electronically across hospitals to derive regional diagnostic reference levels for quality improvement.

Methods: Data on consecutive computed tomography examinations from 8 hospitals were collected automatically in a central database (Repository) from April 2017 to September 2017. The most frequently performed examinations were used to determine the standard protocols for each hospital.

Synthesizing Chest X-Ray Pathology for Training Deep Convolutional Neural Networks.

Medical datasets are often highly imbalanced with over-representation of prevalent conditions and poor representation of rare medical conditions. Due to privacy concerns, it is challenging to aggregate large datasets between health care institutions. We propose synthesizing pathology in medical images as a means to overcome these challenges.

Training and Validating a Deep Convolutional Neural Network for Computer-Aided Detection and Classification of Abnormalities on Frontal Chest Radiographs.

Objectives: Convolutional neural networks (CNNs) are a subtype of artificial neural network that have shown strong performance in computer vision tasks including image classification. To date, there has been limited application of CNNs to chest radiographs, the most frequently performed medical imaging study. We hypothesize CNNs can learn to classify frontal chest radiographs according to common findings from a sufficiently large data set.

Tracking and Resolving CT Dose Metric Outliers Using Root-Cause Analysis.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to examine the frequency and type of outlier dose metrics for three common CT examination types on the basis of a root-cause analysis (RCA) approach.

Methods: Institutional review board approval was obtained for this retrospective observational study. The requirement to obtain informed consent was waived.

Increase in Utilization of Afterhours Medical Imaging: A Study of Three Canadian Academic Centers.

Objectives: The objectives of our study were to assess trends in afterhours medical imaging utilization for emergency department (ED) and inpatient (IP) patient populations from 2006-2013, including analysis by modality and specialty and with adjustment for patient volume.

Methods: For this retrospective study, we reviewed the number of CT, MRI, and ultrasound studies performed for the ED and IP patients during the afterhours time period (5pm - 8am on weekdays and 24 hours on weekends and statutory holidays) from 2006-2013 at three different Canadian academic hospitals. We used the Jonckheere-Terpstra (JT) test to determine statistical significance of imaging and patient volume trends.

Identifying Institutional Diagnostic Reference Levels for CT with Radiation Dose Index Monitoring Software.

Purpose: To retrospectively evaluate radiation optimization efforts over 4 years for three computed tomography (CT) protocols and to determine institutional (local) diagnostic reference levels for prospective tracking by using automated radiation dose index monitoring software.

Materials And Methods: Approval for this retrospective observational study was obtained from the hospital research ethics board, and the need to obtain informed consent was waived. The study followed a 48-month radiation dose optimization effort in a large academic inner-city trauma and quaternary referral center.

Prevalence of vertebral fractures in adults with cystic fibrosis and their relationship to bone mineral density.

Study Objectives: The objectives of this study were to determine the prevalence of morphometric vertebral fractures in a large cohort of adult cystic fibrosis (CF) patients, and to examine the association between fractures and bone mineral density (BMD).

Design: Cross-sectional retrospective study.

Setting: A tertiary care academic hospital.

Peripancreatic retroperitoneal gas mimicking necrotizing pancreatitis after laparoscopic cholecystectomy.

The computed tomographic image of gas in the pancreas and peripancreatic retroperitoneum is strongly suggestive of necrotizing pancreatitis. The authors describe an 81-year-old woman who, 7 days after laparoscopic cholecystectomy, presented with retroperitoneal gas but did not have the clinical or biochemical features of necrotizing pancreatitis. Resolution of her low-grade fever and of the radiologic findings with conservative treatment and the absence of other causes for pneumoretroperitoneum suggest that the gas observed was related to the laparoscopic cholecystectomy.