Researchers from New York City have developed a system that has reduced the number of MRI image descriptors by 94%, resulting in easier navigation of the PACS for both imaging professionals and referring physicians.
In the September issue of the American Journal of Roentgenology, Dr. Lawrence Schwartz and colleagues from Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City discussed the impact of a standardized list of relevant, easily understood MR image-series descriptors.
"Referring physicians who use PACS need to navigate through multiple image series to view an entire MR imaging study...this process may be confusing...if a wide range of descriptive labels is used...in designing standardized image-series descriptors, a balance needs to be reached between providing sufficient technical detail and maintaining simplicity," they wrote (AJR, September 2002, Vol.179:3, pp. 575-577).
They began by determining the number and frequency of all unique image-series descriptors from 47,028 MR images that had been transferred to the PACS (PathSpeed, version 7.12, GE Medical Systems, Waukesha, WI). A subset of standardized image-series descriptors was created. The example the authors cited was the conversion of the variations on the term "axial T1-weighted" (T1 axial, ax T1, etc.) to "axial T1."
"These standardized image-series descriptors also were entered at the MR imaging console in the appropriate database field, and then were mapped to the appropriate DICOM database elements," they said.
They determined that their PACS contained 2,544 unique MR series descriptors. The authors also found that the five most frequent series descriptors were:
- axial T1
- localizer
- axial T1
- sagittal T1
- axial T1 post
They cut this number down to 146, basing their naming convention on two or three words beginning with the plane of acquisition, tissue weighting, and other descriptive terms. The authors also eliminated most pulse-sequence names because these would not be familiar to nonradiologists.
As a result, a general term such as "coronal MRCP" (MR cholangiopancreatography) was used instead of "coronal T2-weighted SSFSE" (single-shot fast spin echo). The descriptors were made generic enough that they would apply to most manufacturers’ equipment.
Finally, MR technologists were instructed to use only series descriptors from the 146-term list. Further study needs to be done on how the reduction of series descriptors has affected the diagnostic performance of radiologists as well as referring physicians, the authors concluded.
By Shalmali PalAuntMinnie.com staff writer
September 12, 2002
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