Health Imaging & IT - April 2008 - (Page 22)

special secTion advanced visualizaTion Thinking Thin-Client study to plan the best surgical approach. “They’re the only ones who know exactly which way to go,” Royal says. “This has been a huge advantage for them—the freedom to use it anywhere in the system and to do it exactly how they want it.” Royal views the software as beneficial for clinical care, education and research. The ability to answer questions such as the best surgical approach, how aggressive the physician can be on a lesion and how much vascular invasion is there, provide a direct clinical care benefit. He also uses the software during conferences with neurosurgeons and to demonstrate concepts to teach residents. When it comes to research, “it seems so obvious that it is beneficial, but you really need to prove it in a scientific study format,” he says. And, once you get really used to using it, you can develop the product further by creating new templates, new ways of calculating volumes and new image-guided aspects.” improved workflow William Muhr, MD, radiologist at South Jersey Radiology Associates, a practice with eight locations in southern New Jersey, has been using syngo WebSpace from Siemens Medical Solutions for about a year. “We decided that with the number of studies requiring more advanced visualization, particularly coronary CTAs, we didn’t want to have to put all that raw data on PACS.” The practice wanted to improve workflow so that when radiologists need to interact with datasets, they didn’t have to physically get up and move to a specialized workstation. The other goal was to try and get more doctors interacting with data in a 3D fashion instead of just axials, particularly neuroradiologists and body imagers. The functionality is not quite as fast as being right at a workstation, but the remote access capability more than makes up for that, Muhr says. His own workflow has changed dramatically, he reports. With the ability to read about 80 percent of his studies from the PACS using thin-client, “I think I’m able to be more efficient.” Steven D. Wolff, MD, PhD, director, Advanced Cardiovascular Imaging, an outpatient imaging center in New York City, has been using GE Healthcare’s AW (Advance Workstation) Remote Access for more than two years. About 90 percent of the center’s cases are cardiovascular CT or MR studies. The work performed by Wolff and his colleague is very specialized, so it’s not easy for another physician to fill in. That’s where he finds remote access to be very helpful. Another benefit comes in working with referring physicians. Interventionalists, such as surgeons and cardiologists, feel it’s important to see the images themselves. “Seeing the picture and understanding the shape of what it is they’re seeing will often change their approach,” Wolff says. For example, they may see, in the case of vascular malformation, more than one feeding vessel. The images can help them decide whether to treat an aneurysm surgically. Although he can use words to describe a narrowing of an artery, “there’s nothing like seeing it to get a better feel of whether to treat a lesion.” Plus, he can view the same dataset with the referring physician and interact and answer questions. apt advice Although the software is useful for those who want to access flat images, says Wolff, “where it’s really useful is for those specific areas of medicine where it’s important to interact with a 3D dataset and be able to reformat in different planes. You can ship people images, but you can’t ship every possible 3D view that they would want.” Some might fear that thin-client advanced visualization could make radiologists unnecessary, says Royal. But, making imaging data accessible to more physicians is better for patients, he says. “Embrace it. Don’t be scared of it. Stay ahead of the curve so that we continue to add value to the clinicians’ understanding about our imaging techniques. That’s better for radiologists because we work hand-in-hand with referring physicians and they need to feel that we’re on the cutting-edge of what technology has to offer.” more competition Jeffrey Hellinger, MD, is a long-term advanced visualization user who has been building up a 3D lab for pediatrics at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. The facility uses INtuition from TeraRecon for everything from cardiovascular to body to neurology MR and CT studies. Thin-client has allowed Hellinger to view studies while traveling in Europe and even wirelessly on an airplane. During his training, he worked with the earliest versions of software and workstations, which were very cumbersome. When he was looking for a job, he noticed a lot of reservations about thin-client. Now, the skeptics have not only converted, they can convert others. The market is becoming more competitive, he says. The key now is that vendors need to demonstrate that thin-client advanced visualization’s utility is what people have been predicting it will be. 22 Health Imaging & IT | april 2008 [ thin-client solutions can allow for fast examination of clinical images— wherever the physician is located. source: siemens Medical solutions ] Healthimaging.com http://Healthimaging.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Health Imaging & IT - April 2008

Health Imaging & IT - April 2008 Contents On the Web The Enterprise News Update Cracking Down: CT Radiation Dose 3D Rendering: Options Galore Thinking Thin-Client Modality Review Ergonomics & Design Special Section: Storage Strategies Imaging Tools Technology Outlook People & Technology Technology Review IT Trends Reader's Resource Stat Sheet

Health Imaging & IT - April 2008

For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.