Focused Research to Improve Patient Care: Portable Chest Radiographs in the ICU
Reading Time: 1 minute read
Our research team continually pushes technology to improve patient care and deliver better clinical outcomes. At RSNA, our R&D team is featured in four technical paper presentations highlighting notable research projects. Up first on Sunday morning, Carestream’s Zhimin Huo, Ph.D. presented her paper, Computer-Aided Detection of Malpositioned Endotracheal Tubes in Portable Chest Radiographs for ICU Patients.
Portable chest x-rays are the most commonly ordered procedure in the ICU, used to track patient changes and monitor movements in tube placement. However, because of differences in exposure, grid usage and patient positioning, portable radiography typically produces images with less quality than exams done in the radiology suite. With this in mind, advancements in portable DR technology focus on techniques and tools to improve image quality.
Huo’s research, done in collaboration with teams from The Mayo Clinic and the University of Rochester Medical Center, developed CAD technology to aid in identification of the carina in portable chest exams. This tool made it easier to monitor the location of tubes within the trachea, resulting in better sensitivity and lower false positive detection over traditional techniques. Use of the tool would allow techs to more quickly identify misplaced tubes and escalate the patient for physician attention, ultimately resulting in better care for critical patients in the ICU.
Have you been attending the technical presentations this year? What advancements do you think are most important for radiology?
