- Imaging informatics
Introduction
Imaging Informatics, also known as Radiology Informatics or Medical Imaging Informatics, is a subspecialty of radiology that aims to improve the efficiency, accuracy, usability and reliability of medical imaging services within the healthcare enterprise [cite journal | last = Branstetter | first = B | year = 2007 | title = Basics of Imaging Informatics | journal = Radiology | volume = 243 | pages = 656-67] . It is devoted to the study of how information about and contained within medical images is retrieved, analyzed, enhanced, and exchanged within radiology and throughout the medical enterprise.
As radiology is an inherently data-intensive and technology-driven specialty of medicine, radiologists have become leaders in Imaging Informatics. However, with the proliferation of digitized images across the practice of medicine to include fields such as cardiology, dermatology, surgery, gastroenterology, obstetrics, gynecology and pathology, the advances in Imaging Informatics are also being tested and applied in other areas of medicine. Various industry players and vendors involved with medical imaging, along with IT experts and other biomedical informatics professionals, are contributing and getting involved in this expanding field.
Imaging informatics exists at the intersection of several broad fields:
*biological science - includes bench sciences such as biochemistry, microbiology, physiology and genetics
*clinical services - includes the practice of medicine, bedside research, including outcomes and cost-effectiveness studies, and public health policy
*information science - deals with the acquisition, retrieval and manipulation of data
*medical physics / engineering - entails the use of equipment and technology for a medical purposeAreas of Interest
Key areas relevant to Imaging informatics include:
*Picture Archiving and Communication System (PACS) and Component Systems
*Imaging Informatics for the Enterprise
*Image-EnabledElectronic Medical Records
*Radiology Information Systems (RIS) andHospital Information Systems (HIS)
*Digital Image Acquisition
*Image Processing and Enhancement
*Image Data Compression
*3D, Visualization and Multi-media
*Speech Recognition
*Computer-Aided Detection and Diagnosis (CAD).
*Imaging Facilities Design
*Imaging Vocabularies and Ontologies
*Data-mining from medical image databases
*Transforming the Radiological Interpretation Process (TRIP) [TRIP - an initiative between the then Society of Computer Applications in Radiology (SCAR), now known as the Society of Imaging Informatics in Medicine (SIIM) [http://www.scarnet.net/trip/html/What_is_TRIP.htm] ]
*DICOM ,HL7 and other Standards
*Workflow and Process Modeling and Simulation
*Quality Assurance
*Archive Integrity and Security
*Teleradiology
*Radiology Informatics Education*Digital imaging
Training
Radiologists who wish to pursue sub-specialty training in this field can undergo fellowship training in Imaging Informatics. Medical Imaging Informatics Fellowships are done after completion of Board Certification in Diagnostic Radiology, and may be pursued concurrently with other sub-specialty radiology fellowships.
The American Board of Imaging Informatics (ABII) also administers a certification examination for Imaging Informatics Professionals.
References
External links
* [http://www.siimweb.org/ The Society for Imaging Informatics in Medicine]
* [https://www.abii.org/ American Board of Imaging Informatics]
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