Utilization of an ultra-low-field, portable magnetic resonance imaging for brain tumor assessment in lower middle-income countries.

Background: Access to neuroimaging is limited in low-middle-income countries (LMICs) due to financial and resource constraints. A new, ultra-low-field, low-cost, and portable magnetic resonance imaging (pMRI) device could potentially increase access to imaging in LMICs.

Case Description: We have presented the first brain tumor case scanned using an Ultra-low-field pMRI at Aga Khan University Hospital in Karachi, Pakistan.

The Retail Outlet Health Kiosk Hypertension Trial (ROKHYT): Pilot Results.

Background: Blood pressure (BP) control was only 43.7% in the National Health and Nutrition Survey (NHANES) survey in 2017-2018. Scalable, nonclinic-based strategies to control BP are needed.

The SENIEUR protocol and the efficacy of hepatitis B vaccination in healthy elderly persons by age, gender, and vaccine route.

Background: Reduced response to hepatitis B vaccines is associated with aging, confounding and comorbid conditions, as well as inadvertent subcutaneous (SC) inoculation. We hypothesized that the antibody and T cell-mediated immune responses (T-CMI) of elderly adults to a vaccine intended for intramuscular (IM) administration would be attenuated when deposited into SC fat, independent of confounding conditions.

Results: Fifty-two healthy, community dwelling elderly adults (65-82 years), seronegative for HBV, were enrolled in the SENIEUR protocol as a strictly healthy population.

Implications of surface-rendered facial CT images in patient privacy.

Objective: Three-dimensional and multiplanar reconstruction of CT images has become routine in diagnostic imaging. The technology also facilitates surface reconstruction, in which facial features and, as a result, patient identity may be recognized, leading to risk of violations of patient privacy rights. The purpose of this study was to assess whether volunteer viewers can recognize faces on 3D reconstructed images as specific patients.

The relative effect of vendor variability in CT perfusion results: a method comparison study.

Objective: There are known interoperator, intraoperator, and intervendor software differences that can influence the reproducibility of quantitative CT perfusion values. The purpose of this study was to determine the relative impact of operator and software differences in CT perfusion variability.

Materials And Methods: CT perfusion imaging data were selected for 11 patients evaluated for suspected ischemic stroke.

Detection of cervical spine fracture on computed radiography images a monitor resolution study.

Rationale And Objectives: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of radiologists using monochrome medical-grade 5 megapixel (MP), 3 MP, 2 MP, and 1 MP displays for the detection of cervical fractures on cervical radiographs, while controlling factors such as luminance and ambient conditions.

Materials And Methods: Institutional review board approval was obtained. Two hundred lateral cervical computed radiography images, 97 with fractures, were randomly displayed on 5-MP, 3-MP, 2-MP, or 1-MP liquid crystal displays (LCDs) for a total of 450 interpretations per display.

Ontology-assisted analysis of Web queries to determine the knowledge radiologists seek.

Radiologists frequently search the Web to find information they need to improve their practice, and knowing the types of information they seek could be useful for evaluating Web resources. Our goal was to develop an automated method to categorize unstructured user queries using a controlled terminology and to infer the type of information users seek. We obtained the query logs from two commonly used Web resources for radiology.

Effect of ambient sound masking on the accuracy of computerized speech recognition.

Purpose: To evaluate the direct effect that sound masking has on computerized speech recognition (SR) accuracy in the digital reading room while eliminating the Lombard effect.

Materials And Methods: This study complies with HIPAA requirements, and the institutional review board determined that approval was not required; informed consent was obtained. Ten radiologists digitally recorded 20 selected reports.

Vision and quality in the digital imaging environment: how much does the visual acuity of radiologists vary at an intermediate distance?

Objective: The purpose of this study was to examine the intermediate-distance visual acuity of a cross section of radiologists and to identify variation in visual acuity during a typical workday.

Subjects And Methods: Forty-eight radiologists completed a brief survey before undergoing visual acuity testing, with corrective lenses if routinely used, at three times of the day. Testing was performed with modified versions of a U.

Informatics in radiology: IHE teaching file and clinical trial export integration profile: functional examples.

The digital revolution in radiology introduced the need for electronic export of medical images. However, the current export process is complicated and time consuming. In response to this continued difficulty, the Integrating the Healthcare Enterprise (IHE) initiative published the Teaching File and Clinical Trial Export (TCE) integration profile.

Informatics in radiology: GridCAD: grid-based computer-aided detection system.

Grid computing-the use of a distributed network of electronic resources to cooperatively perform subsets of computationally intensive tasks-may help improve the speed and accuracy of radiologic image interpretation by enabling collaborative computer-based and human readings. GridCAD, a software application developed by using the National Cancer Institute Cancer Biomedical Informatics Grid architecture, implements the fundamental elements of grid computing and demonstrates the potential benefits of grid technology for medical imaging. It allows users to query local and remote image databases, view images, and simultaneously run multiple computer-assisted detection (CAD) algorithms on the images selected.

Design and ergonomic considerations for the filmless environment.

Planning and executing the redesign of a traditional institutional radiology reading room to conform to the radically different requirements of digital imaging are reviewed, with examples drawn from the authors' experience and from the growing body of literature on this subject. Included are best-practice recommendations and real-life examples on initial design and planning, stakeholder involvement, identifying and hiring consultants, architectural planning, the designation of a radiology point person, rethinking room and workstation design, the selection of ergonomic furniture and fittings, identifying optimal environmental elements, fine tuning and lessons learned, and going digital.

Radiologist assessment of PACS user interface devices.

Introduction: The process of radiologic interpretation has been revolutionized with the adoption of filmless imaging. Despite the radical change in viewing techniques and a rapidly expanding array of display, navigation, and manipulation tools, the keyboard-and-mouse configuration remains the standard for user interaction during radiologic interpretation.

Method: In this study, 6 readers evaluated 6 alternative user interface devices (UIDs), including 5-button and 8-button mice, a gyroscopic mouse, a multimedia controller, a handheld mouse-and-keyboard combination device, and a gaming joystick.

Integrating imaging informatics into the radiology residency curriculum: rationale and example curriculum.

Imaging informatics, as part of the wider emerging discipline of medical informatics, remains poorly defined. However, many educators agree that formalized and flexible training in the collection, display, manipulation, storage, retrieval, and communication of imaging data, as well as the integration of these data into larger databases, should be introduced into the period of radiology residency training. The authors review the importance of such training to those individuals now preparing for clinical practice and research.

Ten filmless years and ten lessons: a 10th-anniversary retrospective from the Baltimore VA Medical Center.

The authors review a decade's experience in the nation's first filmless radiology department and outline the challenges and rewards of the transition. They summarize their experience with 10 cautionary and informative lessons on making the process more successful, more efficient, and less stressful. A number of possible avenues of new research and assessment on the effects of filmless operation on radiologists, imaging staff, referring clinicians, and patients are highlighted.

GridIMAGE: a novel use of grid computing to support interactive human and computer-assisted detection decision support.

This paper describes a Grid-aware image reviewing system (GridIMAGE) that allows practitioners to (a) select images from multiple geographically distributed digital imaging and communication in medicine (DICOM) servers, (b) send those images to a specified group of human readers and computer-assisted detection (CAD) algorithms, and (c) obtain and compare interpretations from human readers and CAD algorithms. The currently implemented system was developed using the National Cancer Institute caGrid infrastructure and is designed to support the identification of lung nodules on thoracic computed tomography. However, the infrastructure is general and can support any type of distributed review.

Multi-institutional analysis of computed and direct radiography: part I. Technologist productivity.

Purpose: To assess whether it is feasible to measure and compare work-flow times across institutional variations, and to apply such a comparison to technologist productivity in the performance of general radiographic examinations with computed radiography (CR) and direct radiography (DR).

Materials And Methods: The study received internal review board exemption. Participants were informed about the study and willingly participated.

Multi-institutional analysis of computed and direct radiography: part II. Economic analysis.

Purpose: To compare economic aspects of equipment configurations, productivity levels, and patient waiting times in the performance of computed radiography (CR) and direct radiography (DR).

Materials And Methods: The study received internal review board exemption status, without the need for informed patient consent. Data from four study sites were used to calculate the CR-DR crossover point (defined as the point at which the cost-effectiveness of DR equals that of CR) and CR-DR annual cost differentials.

Traumatic dissection of the internal carotid artery.

We present the case of an 11-year-old male who had a dissection of his left internal carotid artery following a rather innocuous mechanism of injury. Although this phenomenon is documented in the medical literature, it remains a relatively rare event following blunt injury to the head and neck (0.3% occurrence rate in 1 study spanning 7 years).

Nuclear cardiology patient tracking using a palm-based device: methods and clinician satisfaction.

Handheld personal computers are popular, easy to use, inexpensive, portable, and can share data among different operating systems. In our institution, nuclear cardiology testing is performed in the nuclear medicine department and jointly reported by radiologists and cardiologists. The objective of this article is to describe a system for recording nuclear cardiology data and to assess clinician satisfaction using handheld computers with the Palm Operating System.