Vue PACS Workstation Proves its Multi-Modality Proficiency at MDCT 2013

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Menashe Benjamin, Vice President, HCIS, Carestream

The annual “Workstation Face-Off,” held on June 18 in Washington, D.C., is part of the International Symposium on Multidetector-Row CT. The event aims to define the limits of workstation performance. Each year radiologists use advanced workstations to process and interpret several complex CT studies under severe time pressure, but this year’s face-off implemented an additional challenge.

For the first time in its 10-year history the competition, which is part of the International Society of Computed Tomography (ISCT), included cases that challenged the workstation with the reading, processing and reporting across multiple modality studies with findings in multiple organs. The ability to handle multiple modalities and offer automated tools enhances overall productivity and avoids the need to resort to dedicated processing workstations that are not fully integrated in the reading workflow.

Participants were allotted 18 minutes to complete this year’s exams, which included longitudinal examination of lung disease, liver tumor tracking, cardiac functional analysis and neuro vascular assessment. All cases were complex and required advanced and automatic processing tools for fast and efficient diagnosis.

Radiologist Michalle Soudack, M.D,. Head of Pediatric Radiology at the Safra Children’s Hospital in Israel, presented the cases for Carestream, showcasing the CARESTREAM Vue PACS workstation. Her performance with the Vue PACS workstation, as in years past, supported the proficient reading, processing and reporting of all the images across multiple modalities. As always with Dr. Soudack, it was a rewarding experience to watch her maneuver the Vue PACS with such ease. Her presentations were a big hit with the audience, as several people commented on Dr. Soudack’s assessment of the complex neuro vascular multi-modality case, and the fact that she conducted the cardiac CT assessment via a PACS and not a dedicated workstation.

The face-off has routinely been an event that showcases areas of proficiency in today’s CT interpretation technologies, as well as pointing out where improvements are needed. This is always an exciting and intense event to be a part of, and we are already looking forward to next year.