Health Imaging & IT - December 2008 - (Page 19)

[ Right middle cerebral artery aneurysm ] [ Posterior-inferior cerebellar artery origin aneurysm ] [ Multilobular, pedunculated broad-based aneurysm/ pseudoaneurysm of the left internal carotid artery; All images courtesy of Anthony Garcia, Radiology Ltd. ] director of the division of abdominal imaging and CT at the Johns Hopkins Hospital has been a long-time user of advanced visualization technology. He recommends that practices seeking to add advanced visualization capabilities to their service lines first look at their image acquisition protocols. “The first thing, of course, is the ability to acquire the data sets,” he says. “So, whatever CT scanner you have, you need to know how to use the scanner well. You need to have it optimized, because when all is said and done unless you have a good data set, nothing else happens.” Achieving expertise on the advanced visualization application is the next step a practice must take for successful deployment of the technology, Fishman says. “The interpreting clinician must gain expertise on the advanced visualization software; it’s this post-processing that allows you to make an accurate diagnosis,” he says. “You need to know how to do the post-processing both accurately and in a timely fashion.” Fishman states that the reasons most often cited for not performing cardiac CT studies are that it’s too hard to get the data and its too time consuming in the post-processing of the image data. “Advanced visualization applications have changed—they’re much better; the HealthImaging.com tools are easier, simpler, and more quantitative, but you still have to learn how to use it,” he says. “I strongly recommend that, as the interpreting physician, you know how to do it yourself. It can’t be something a third-party does and then gives you the information—you need to be interactive with the data set or you’re just not going to feel comfortable reading the studies.” The 3D laboratory “A dedicated 3D lab can be the crown jewel your practice needs, a cutting-edge tool that will make your company outshine its competitors,” says Anthony Garcia, R.T. (R) (CT), 3D Lab / QC Supervisor for Tucson, Ariz.-based Radiology Ltd. “The capability to deliver multiplanar reformatted [MPR], maximum intensity projection [MIP], and volume-rendered images to your referring physician base can be a powerful market differentiator.” Radiology Ltd. is a private-practice diagnostic imaging group that operates a number of imaging centers with more than 40 radiologists and more than 400 technical, clerical, and administrative personnel. “As the practice has grown, nearly all the CT and MRI scanners have been upgraded to meet the competitive standards of the market,” Garcia says. “It soon became very obvious that the way to afford a large num- ber of scanners was to increase the throughput of each machine, and the way to do that was to move image post-processing away from the image-acquisition workstation.” He notes that the process to create 2D and 3D batched series for any particular study can engage the operator anywhere from five minutes for a MR angiography (MRA) head and neck exam to 45 minutes for a cardiac CT angiography (CCTA) peripheral run-off. Some of the more involved studies can take even longer. These processes tie up valuable time in technical and equipment resources that can be better utilized than if the processing takes place at the scanning station. The practice boasts a dedicated 3D lab that handles an average of more than 700 studies a month. The lab processes a multitude of exams, ranging from MRA MIPs to coronary artery visualization and virtual colonoscopies. According to Garcia, the practice uses a thin-client interface so the radiologist doesn’t have to load all the slice information to his or her reading station. And, since the reading workstation doesn’t have to expend processing power, on-call radiologists have the 3D lab’s resources at their home offices. Staffing the 3D lab requires some forethought on the part of the practice, Garcia says. December 2008 | Health Imaging & IT 19 http://www.HealthImaging.com

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

Health Imaging & IT - December 2008 Table of Contents The Enterprise News Update Technology at Work: What You Need to Compete Why 1.5T MRI is Leading the Pack Workflow Strategies Aid Advanced Visualization Deployment Illuminating Reading Room Design for Better Reading Strategies Cardiac SPECT Sharpens its Focus OrthoPACS: The Information Backbone of the Orthopedic Clinic Imaging Tools Reader's Resource

Health Imaging & IT - December 2008

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