Digital x-ray may have made its debut decades ago, but today researchers remain committed to creating a better radiological "mousetrap."
In this millennium, digital x-ray may well be the modality that has received the most attention from developers of artificial intelligence (AI), who are beating a path to the radiology department's front door. AI algorithms are helping clinicians in a variety of uses, from improving calculations of chest x-ray radiation dose to analyzing suspicious lung nodules on radiographs.
In the meantime, AI is leading the charge for better diagnoses of musculoskeletal, orthopedic, and pulmonary abnormalities -- just to name a few -- and to hasten imaging exams and the care of patients in emergency rooms and intensive care units. Even the field of forensic radiology could receive a boost from AI when investigators need to more accurately determine a person's age and gender.
In fact, RSNA thinks so highly of AI's prospects that the organization created the Pneumonia Detection Challenge for this year's meeting. Teams of researchers were invited to develop AI algorithms to identify and localize pneumonia on chest x-rays. RSNA will present awards to the best presentations.
But digital x-ray will be about more than just AI at RSNA 2018 -- bread-and-butter technology also will be on display. Researchers will share their results in experimenting with new x-ray detectors, more efficient components such as high-capacity tubes, and unprecedented configurations to optimize the performance of devices. New x-ray imaging techniques with suppressed noise, patient-specific approaches to personalized dosimetry, and antiscatter grid technology show great promise as well in improving performance.
With the 104th annual meeting of RSNA kicking off in less than three weeks, there is no time like the present for the sampling below of digital x-ray presentations scheduled for Chicago. As always, noteworthy scientific papers, posters, refresher courses, and educational exhibits are available throughout the conference to broaden your knowledge on how best to use digital x-ray. For more information on all the conference offerings, as well as their times and locations, view the RSNA 2018 meeting program.
