Health Imaging & IT - March 2008 - (Page 33)

“It turns out that the Barco and Totoku 5MP are truly the same monitor glass and panel, but Barco uses a blue bulb to light the display of their mammography 5MP displays where Totoku uses a white bulb,” he explains. The blue bulb tends to mute the bright white in certain areas of the breast image and allows users to see more soft tissue information. “That makes general x-ray exams and mammography look really nice, but it makes ultrasound, MRI, and CT studies look less attractive than the white-bulbed monitor,” Backof says. Totoku also manufactures a 5MP display with a blue bulb, but it’s only sold overseas. USEI helped Radnet acquire those monitors from Japan. When we had a radiologist compare images on the blue-bulbed Totoku monitor to the blue-bulbed Barco monitor, the image quality was identical.” Meanwhile, Radnet uses the 2MP color monitors for breast MR, ultrasound Doppler and other color-based studies. General x-ray is displayed on the 3 and 5MP monitors. “We build workstations that have two 2MP greyscale monitors and one color monitor for worklists.” offices. “Typically, diagnostic workstations get the most attention and highest end displays,” he says. But, “we try to use standardized workstations and displays. That makes it easier for us to support and manage.” time, he says. “We’ve seen very little drift in NEC monitors.” Facile also likes the glass the company uses which is nonglare and provides very clear images. [ A technologist uses a 1MP display to view x-rays; above right: Radnet Inc.’s Community Radiology Associates Frederick, Md., facility. ] Three levels for displays Allina Hospitals & Clinics is a not-for-profit system of hospitals, clinics and other care services throughout Minnesota and western Wisconsin. Before upgrading PACS in 2003, the system had several locally managed PACS. Now, those are centralized with 11 hospitals on one PACS and expansion to clinics underway. According to Bruce Facile, systems administrator, Allina chose NEC Display Solutions’ 21-inch MultiSync LCD2190UXi 2 MP color systems in 2006, when the system made the transition from greyscale to color with diagnostic displays. Facile says the decision in switching to color displays came down to “mostly the requirements by the different modalities to display color.” In the transition to PACS, Allina considered three levels for displays—diagnostic workstations, critical-care displays and those for reviewing images in physician HealthImaging.com Ultrasound, MRI and even some of the workstations that do 3D reconstructions have been adding more and more color, he says. “You’ll see, in the near future, more and more consumer-level manufacturers producing high-bright color displays of excellent quality.” Allina’s operating rooms use a combination of displays. “Some surgeons prefer large, 40-inch displays. But most use a combination of 21-inch color monitors. Those using interoperable MRIs use the NEC 2190, a 2MP color display.” Allina uses 3MP grayscale monitors for CR and DR images. “We made the move from grayscale to color for the added information and flexibility for cardiac imaging,” Facile says. “We like the image quality and the homogeneity of the brightness across the display—and of course, the cost,” he says. Facile liked NEC’s uniform color, backlight stability and ease of calibration. The crosslight holds the calibration better over evaluating workflow When the University of Virginia Medical Center in Charlottesville implemented PACS four years ago, they evaluated workflow to determine where monitors would best serve users’ needs. That helped prioritize the rollout of the displays purchased by Eizo. Initially, users could choose from monitors or film for a “gentle transition,” says David Roberts, senior application systems analyst. Roberts was specifically hired to oversee the transition to filmless radiology. He and his team started with several of the facility’s clinics, including the cancer center and heart center. “We’ve placed more than 100 workstations in our outside clinics,” he says, which include low-intensity monitors since users are not doing comprehensive readings, but referrals. In the radiology department itself, depending on whether radiologists are viewing bone or chest films, they are using 5MP monochrome displays. They are starting to import 3MP color displays, too. March 2008 | Health Imaging & IT 33 http://HealthImaging.com

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Health Imaging & IT - March 2008 Table of Contents On the Web The Enterprise: Communicating Better News Update Critical Test Results Management: The Human Touch The Changing Face of the Cath Lab Cardiovascular CT: A Clinical Boon Cardiology PACS: Solutions to Fit Your Needs ACC 08: Building Quality & Value Together Picking the Perfect PACS Displays PET/CT: A Game-Changer in Cancer Patient Management DR: You Gotta Have IT – Delivering Speed, Efficiency, Savings Laser Imagers: Answering the Call for Hard Copy Reader's Resources Stat Sheet

Health Imaging & IT - March 2008

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