Radiology
ResolutionMD demonstrates how highly advanced CT & MRI manipulation can be done on a smartphone
The ability to review patients’ imaging studies on smartphones is a natural progression for mobile physicians. Most hospital PACS (Picture archiving and communication system) now allow viewing not only on any hospital computer but often from home PCs. The ability to view the same images from your iPhone would be a great boon for many physicians and several contenders are already en route to market or have arrived. In addition the extremely dense pixel resolution of the iPhone 4 Retina Display makes it an obvious target for mobile radiology viewers.
In the past, this site has reviewed two applications already available on the iPhone, eFilm (review) and OsiriX (review). One problem that any mobile imaging viewer has to contend with is the vast amount of data (in Mb) of a DICOM image set and the processing power required to perform 2d and 3d transformations. For example, OsiriX stores all the data locally on the iPhone, using WiFi to transmit whole data sets to the phone or performing queries to the PACS server to request data sets to be sent to the phone.
Interview with Dr. Lieberman, creator of the iRadiology App
Last week we did a feature review of the iRadiology App, a recently released free radiology learning tool. I thought it was a must have medical application for medical students and residents. The application provides over 500 radiology cases explained in detail. I had a quick Q&A with Dr. Lieberman to discuss the direction of this great learning tool and whether or not it will remain free.
iRadiology App Provides Massive Amounts of Radiology Content, and its Free [App Review]
A new radiology learning tool was just released in the App Store, the iRadiology App. This app has a catalog of over 500 radiology cases designed to help medical students and residents improve their plain film,CT, and MRI reading skills. The cases are derived from Dr. Gillian Lieberman, who is the currently Director of Harvard Medical Student training and Associate Director of the Residency Program at Beth Israel Medical Center. This legitimizes the content of the application. In this review we’ll discuss the application further and also show you how to turn on the “Zoom” feature built into the iPhone that will enable you to improve the utility of this medical app.
OsiriX Used in Research to Show Accurate Mobile Diagnosis of Acute Appendicitis, but Many Questions Still Left Unanswered
In a recent study presented at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) researchers showed how the DICOM viewer, OsiriX, can effectively help diagnose acute appendicitis.
This doesn’t come as much of a surprise to us. We reviewed OsiriX a few months ago and were definitely fans of this DICOM viewer then.
My only issue is with the lack of information provided in the study. You can view the abstract of the study but the full study is currently not yet published. Yes, the findings are interesting, but lets hold back some of the excitement until we get more information. I’ve seen multiple medical and non medical outlets reporting on this story, but I don’t think they are looking at how the study itself was performed in detail. The main points mentioned in the abstract were the following:
OsiriX Medical App Puts a Small DICOM Workstation in Your Pocket [App Review]
One problem that has plagued physicians in specialties where imaging is important is how to describe a patient’s imaging findings to a colleague. Certainly, the radiologist’s report is helpful but sometimes it’s not enough. Particularly for surgeons and interventional radiologists, imaging findings are like a road map to a procedure. If you’ve ever given driving directions to an out of towner, you’ve seen the look of confusion overcoming their face as you desperately pile on landmarks hoping they don’t get lost. But, if you are a physician, how do you communicate the subtleties of abnormal anatomy without pictures? This review will discuss how this application helps put a legitimate image viewer in the palm of your hand via the iPhone Operating System.
