Image Postprocessing Adoption Trends in Clinical Medical Imaging

Abstract

There is an increased consensus in the medical and research community about the huge benefits quantitative imaging can bring to radiology. According to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, approximately 80 million CT and 34 million MRI scans are performed yearly in the United States alone, and the vast majority are currently evaluated through visual inspection. However, quantitative imaging can greatly reduce the burden on radiologists, by diminishing read time and improving diagnostic accuracy. This research was funded by the National Science Foundation's I-Corps and Beat-the-Odds programs to interview more than 350 medical imaging professionals (clinicians, radiologists, policymakers, companies) around the world and determine current needs and trends in the use of postprocessing tools. Here the authors present a summary of these interviews for the adult and pediatric realms. The results indicate that clinical quantitative image analysis is increasingly popular and that we are at the cusp of a revolution in the field in terms of adoption.

Keywords: Medical imaging; health care; postprocessing software; quantitative imaging.