Dear AuntMinnie Member,
One of the thorniest issues in public health is making advanced medical technologies available to people in rural areas. Researchers from Nigeria found a novel solution, using the popular messaging app WhatsApp to send ultrasound images acquired at rural sites to central locations for expert interpretation.
How does the process work? It's literally as simple as having people at the remote locations use their mobile phones to take pictures of images or video on an ultrasound monitor, and send them using WhatsApp to experts who can read them. The app is well-suited for the task as it supports both images and video files, and it works on multiple types of mobile phone platforms.
In a recent presentation, the Nigerian researchers shared stories of how the remote diagnosis system influenced patient care, and they provided data on the performance of readers interpreting the scans. Learn more by clicking here, or visit our Ultrasound Community at ultrasound.auntminnie.com.
Meet the Minnies winners
In other news, we're pleased to announce the winners in the Minnies, AuntMinnie.com's annual event recognizing excellence in radiology.
This year's winners range from Dr. David Bluemke, PhD, of the U.S. National Institutes of Health, who was named Most Influential Radiology Researcher, to a PET image derived from an agent developed by German researchers that was named Best Radiology Image. You can view the full list by clicking here, or go to minnies.auntminnie.com.
Congratulations to all of the Minnies winners, and thanks to everyone who nominated a candidate. Thanks especially to our expert panel for your work in selecting the winners!
MICI Q4 numbers stay solid
The latest numbers from the Medical Imaging Confidence Index (MICI) are out, and they show that radiology administrators continue to have a positive outlook on their short-term business prospects.
A collaboration between AuntMinnie.com, AHRA, and the MarkeTech Group, MICI surveys radiology administrators around the U.S., asking them to express their confidence in a set of five key operational measures, ranging from access to capital to future growth as a profit center.
This month's numbers indicate that administrators continue to show confidence in their business prospects for the fourth quarter of 2015. Learn more by clicking here.
