As a radiology resident, Dr. Jason Hostetter felt that the traditional way of showing teaching cases using static key images in a PowerPoint presentation was often inadequate, especially for complicated multiplanar studies with hundreds of images. Viewing the whole study on a regular PACS workstation was a much more natural way to learn, but that required being in the reading room or at least on the hospital's network, according to Hostetter, who will present the group's experience at RSNA 2015.
"Also, there was no easy way to share an interesting or educational study anonymously," he said.
As a result, the researchers developed a Web-based image viewer that includes all basic image reading functions and natively displays DICOM images. They then created a vendor-agnostic pipeline for exporting studies, enabling users in the department -- with one click -- to anonymize a study and upload it to the Web. The study is then ready to be annotated, reviewed, and shared as a teaching case, Hostetter said.
"This allows me to save interesting cases in their entirety, with the source DICOM files, and take them with me no matter where I work without violating HIPAA," he told AuntMinnie.com. "Viewing and scrolling through the case then just requires entering a short URL in any browser, on desktop or mobile devices."
The application was developed using only open Web standards, obviating the need for proprietary file formats, plug-ins, or third-party applications, he said.
"We believe this style of storing, sharing, and reviewing cases on the Web represents the next step in the evolution of radiology education," Hostetter said. "Using the Web as the platform lets learners from any part of the world participate, and allows interactive DICOM studies to be embedded in documents already distributed via the Web, including journal articles, blog posts, social media, or digital study materials."
Learn how they've used the application so far by attending this Sunday morning talk.
