RSNA: Integrating mobile devices may be 'smart' move for radiologists
CHICAGO—Integrating tablets into radiology practice could help bridge the gap between PACS residential systems and smartphones, and using these mobile devices to evaluate imaging exams maintains diagnostic accuracy, a study presented Nov. 29 at the 96th annual scientific meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) showed.
Staff at the Institute for Maternal and Child Health IRCCS Burlo Garofolo in Trieste, Italy, have integrated RIS/PACS in the homes of their radiologists to integrate teleradiology into their practice. Currently, 50 percent of all x-rays are reported and evaluated from on-call staff.
To bolster its healthcare system, the facility connected its digital imaging systems to the hospital to “give the possibility of telecounseling,” said Floriana Zennaro, MD, who presented the study. “All of these features allow the radiologists to diagnose and view images at either the hospital or at the home.”
But to take this even further, the facility sought evaluate mobile device to assess whether or not tele-mobility is feasible.
Zennaro and colleagues used mobile devices—the Apple iPad and iPhone and the Android (Nexus One)—to evaluate CT and MR images, which were chosen specifically because of their low matrix--lower than smartphones display matrix, said Zennaro.
One hindrance to this practice is ensuring that there is security patient data and preservation of patient confidentiality and to facilitate this a virtual private network (VPN) was used.
The 93 exam images—24 CT exams and 69 MRI exams—collected during the study were made anonymous, sent to smartphones using a CPN encrypted connection and reported by two senior radiologists. These results were then collected and compared within a database.
“Up to this point, 93 exams have been evaluated,” said Zennaro. “And no significant loss of information has been detected. [B]ut, the differences were mostly due to personal interpretation rather than the device.”
Compared with MRI, Zennaro said that CT exam evaluation was most challenging because of the high number of slices. However, the preliminary results showed that there was no significant loss of diagnostic information in CT and MRI exams when smartphones were used during image evaluation.
However, one pitfall of the use of these devices may be eye fatigue, particularly after long image evaluation sessions. Zennaro said that this aspect “confirmed that the system is usable for consultation but not for … interpretation.
“We think that tablets could be the right compromise between PACS residential systems and smartphones,” concluded Zennaro. “Tablets will be used in addition to smartphones to evaluate a larger number of imaging exams.”
Staff at the Institute for Maternal and Child Health IRCCS Burlo Garofolo in Trieste, Italy, have integrated RIS/PACS in the homes of their radiologists to integrate teleradiology into their practice. Currently, 50 percent of all x-rays are reported and evaluated from on-call staff.
To bolster its healthcare system, the facility connected its digital imaging systems to the hospital to “give the possibility of telecounseling,” said Floriana Zennaro, MD, who presented the study. “All of these features allow the radiologists to diagnose and view images at either the hospital or at the home.”
But to take this even further, the facility sought evaluate mobile device to assess whether or not tele-mobility is feasible.
Zennaro and colleagues used mobile devices—the Apple iPad and iPhone and the Android (Nexus One)—to evaluate CT and MR images, which were chosen specifically because of their low matrix--lower than smartphones display matrix, said Zennaro.
One hindrance to this practice is ensuring that there is security patient data and preservation of patient confidentiality and to facilitate this a virtual private network (VPN) was used.
The 93 exam images—24 CT exams and 69 MRI exams—collected during the study were made anonymous, sent to smartphones using a CPN encrypted connection and reported by two senior radiologists. These results were then collected and compared within a database.
“Up to this point, 93 exams have been evaluated,” said Zennaro. “And no significant loss of information has been detected. [B]ut, the differences were mostly due to personal interpretation rather than the device.”
Compared with MRI, Zennaro said that CT exam evaluation was most challenging because of the high number of slices. However, the preliminary results showed that there was no significant loss of diagnostic information in CT and MRI exams when smartphones were used during image evaluation.
However, one pitfall of the use of these devices may be eye fatigue, particularly after long image evaluation sessions. Zennaro said that this aspect “confirmed that the system is usable for consultation but not for … interpretation.
“We think that tablets could be the right compromise between PACS residential systems and smartphones,” concluded Zennaro. “Tablets will be used in addition to smartphones to evaluate a larger number of imaging exams.”