ORLANDO, FL - Real-time interactive 3D/multiplanar reformatting (MPR) image postprocessing can be successfully performed on remote workstations over the Internet, according to a presentation Thursday at the Society for Computer Applications in Radiology (SCAR) meeting.
"Real-time 3D/MPR visualization over the wide area network (public Internet) has allowed a remote radiology practice to employ the latest in postprocessing capabilities from anywhere," said Dr. Sean Casey of teleradiology reading firm Virtual Radiology Consultants (VRC) of Eden Prairie, MN.
VRC tested a Web-based client-server application (VitalConnect, Vital Images, Plymouth, MN) with a group of 40 VRC radiologists at various locations throughout the U.S. and abroad. With the application, the radiologists could perform 3D/MPR visualization from any Internet-connected PC, employing SSL encryption to provide secure transmission over the Internet.
The firm used off-the-shelf hardware running Windows 2000 Server, hosted alongside a conventional PACS server in a data center with an OC-12 connection to the Internet. The Web-based application is accessed via Internet Explorer using a user name/password login defined by VRC's IT administrators, Casey said.
User bandwidth ranged from 1.5 Mb/sec to 4 Mb/sec. Radiologists used the 3D/MPR application on the same PC employed for standard PACS viewing, and were able to access all cases from the PACS database on the 3D server, he said.
After reviewing a case on VRC's standard PACS network, radiologists had the option of generating MPR and 3D images by opening or switching to another Web-based browser on the desktop PC.
"We do not have an integration between the PACS and the 3D server at this point in time," Casey said.
The 3D/MPR images could be reviewed interactively, with the postprocessed images able to be saved to the PACS network for long-term storage, Casey said. Radiologists could also employ an interactive conferencing feature to collaborate with other remote radiologists, he said.
VRC radiologists have successfully used the application for maximum intensity projection (MIP), slab MIP, volume rendering, and MPR visualizations for CT angiography, MR angiography, and other 3D applications, he said.
The most common application was multiplanar review of trauma CT studies of the spine, Casey said.
By Erik L. Ridley
AuntMinnie.com staff writer
June 3, 2005
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