SIIM 2007 Scientific Sessions:

SIIM 2007 Workflow Demo:

Dr. Siddiqui introduces the live workflow session.

This session addressed workflow issues that have arisen due to rapid adaptation of advanced and new imaging techniques, such as multi-detector CT, PET/CT, and Cardiac CT/MR imaging. In the session, presenters will highlight current challenges to the interpretation process as seen in today’s clinical workflow by demonstrating case interpretation live during the session. The cases will illustrate how current workflow scenarios are not yet addressing and incorporating these new techniques.

Three different workflow scenarios – trauma, cardiology, and nuclear medicine – were presented, each highlighting a new workflow challenge.

Trauma
In the trauma cases, issues of rapid interpretation and working quickly with images from differing sources were addressed. Dr. Kathirkamanthan Shanmuganathan presented two cases and show how the speed at which an emergency situation is addressed has a huge impact on how and when a patient is treated. The more big studies that are done – such as full-body CT scans and others that are becoming more and more common with newly available technologies – the longer time it takes to get and interpret the images, which can delay patient treatment. A second trauma case illustrated challenges faced when two patients are involved in the same incident.

Cardio
Cases addressing cardiology workflow pointed out the need for system integration and the potential problems when cardio PACS and radiology PACS do not interact. With all of the new hybrid systems in use – Cardiac CT/MR, Echocardio Ultrasound, etc. – there is still no good system that will allow both cardiologists and radiologists to read all images.  Dr. Anwer Quershi showed through his live workflow demo how going back and forth to various workstations and the use of different equipment is disruptive and slows treatment.

Nuclear Medicine
This was the biggest challenge area of the three workflow scenarios presented during the general session: integrating nuclear medicine interpretations into PACS. The resulting data from nuclear medicine tests requires post-processing tools that are not available on PACS; until recently, you couldn’t even send nuclear medicine images to PACS. Dr. Eliot Siegel presented nuclear medicine scenarios and demonstrated that these interpretations require a dedicated/proprietary nuclear medicine workstation.

The SIIM 2007 Reception was held at the Providence WaterFire.  Attendees enjoyed dessert and coffee and the award winning WaterFire, involving fire sculptures set to music along the Providence River Walk.

View Reception Slide Show

The Society for Imaging Informatics in Medicine (SIIM) welcomed the newest members of the College of SIIM Fellows today. They are:

• Katherine P. Andriole, PhD

• David W. Piraino, MD

• Rangaraj Rangayyan, PhD

The three were introduced by Steve Horii, MD, president of the College of SIIM Fellows, during the Society’s annual business meeting today in conjunction with its Annual Meeting in Providence, R.I.

Katherine Andriole has been an early implementer of Computed Radiography, an effective educator across multiple groups, and she has been instrumental in helping to define the field of Medical Imaging Informatics. She has been involved in biomedical imaging informatics for more than 20 years carrying out research, teaching and clinical service and administrative activities. Dr. Andriole is Associate Professor of Radiology at Harvard Medical School and Assistant Medical Director, Imaging IT, and Director of Imaging Informatics for the Center for Evidence-Based Imaging at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School.

David Piraino’s contributions to imaging informatics include work on RIS-driven workflow, standard implementation and IHE, and digital bone imaging. Dr. Piraino is Section Head of Computers in Radiology at the Cleveland Clinic. He was one of the early organizers of RISC (the Radiology Information Systems Consortium, SCAR’s and SIIM’s predecessor) and was Chair of the organization during the year that RISC and SCAR merged. He currently serves on the SIIM Board of Directors.

Rangaraj (Raj) Rangayyan’s contributions to the field include work in developing techniques for computer-aided diagnosis of breast cancer, segmentation and analysis of neuroblastoma, and restoration of nuclear medicine images. He has an extensive background in the engineering and physics of imaging and has made numerous original contributions to the fields of biomedical signal and image analysis, medical imaging, and computer-assisted radiology. He is Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and Adjunct Professor, Departments of Surgery and Radiology, at the University of Calgary.

Paras Lakhani, MD

“Development and Validation of Queries Using Structured Query Language (SQL) to Determine the Utilization of Comparison Imaging in Radiology Reports Stored on PACS,” by Paras Lakhani, MD; Elliot D. Menschik, MD, PhD; Alberto F. Goldszal, PhD; Joseph P. Murray, MS; Mark G. Weiner, MD; Curtis P. Langlotz, MD, PhD; Vol. 19:1

Stefan Wesarg

“Localizing Calcifications in Cardiac CT Data Sets Using a New Vessel Segmentation Approach,” by Stefan Wesarg, M. Fawad Khan, and Evelyn A. Firle; Vol. 19:3

Dr. Janice Honeyman-Buck acknowledges JDI Associate Editors:  Kathy Andriole, Steve Horii, and Elizabeth Krupinski

This site was last updated 09/10/2007.