HealthManagement, Volume 7 - Issue 2, 2007
Annual Meeting of ISCAS, EuroPACS, CAR, CMI, CAD and
SPIE/CARS
Author
Prof. H.U. Lemke
Research Professor of Radiology
University of Southern California
Los Angeles, USA
The response to the call for papers for CARS 2007 in January 2007 was very positive. An all-time high of 573 submitted abstracts has been achieved. Fig. 1 shows the relative distribution of abstracts with respect to themes and countries. In addition to many new topics, included in the given themes, a special characteristic of the submissions was their wide international origin.
As can be expected, this year’s CARS host country, Germany, provided the highest number (161) of abstracts. With 83 abstracts coming from the USA and 73 from Japan, these three countries have contributed more than half of all abstracts. Of great importance to the discipline of CARS, however, is also the extension of the country circle with Algeria, Belarus, Ireland, Lithuania, Malaysia, Mexico and Romania. With these newcomers, altogether 44 countries contributed to the abstract submission for CARS 2007, also an alltime high for CARS.
A further interesting observation which can be derived from Fig. 1 is that the classic themes of CARS, i.e. medical imaging, image processing and visualisation, PACS and Computer Aided Diagnosis (CAD), still attract the Widest spectrum of contributing countries. Fewer countries have submitted to the Computer Assisted Surgery (CAS) related themes, for example surgical navigation, surgical robotics and instrumentation, surgical modelling, simulation and education, computer assisted orthopaedic surgery, computer assisted neurosurgery, image guided head surgery, minimal invasive cardiac, thoracic and abdominal surgery, or the Digital Operating Room (DOR). With the 181 abstracts submitted for these themes, however, it can be observed that the CAS components are growing absolutely and relatively with respect to the other themes of CARS.
Compared to previous statistics on the abstract submissions, the Digital Operating Room theme with special emphasis on surgical PACS and standards is the fastest growing area of CARS. A strong cooperation between CARS and SPIE Medical Imaging, EuroPACS, ISCAS and the newly established DICOM Working Group 24 (WG24) “DICOM in Surgery” contributes towards this development. More than 100 members, at present from 15 different countries, have joined the WG24 with a work focus of developing standards for therapy imaging and model management. Their present and future input for advancing standards in the operating room is contributing to the internationality of CARS as a discipline and congress.
CARS as a forum promotes that a widest possible community in the world will benefit from the advances in CARS assisted medicine.
This year’s annual edition will include between 400 - 600 delegates from different countries. The conference programme will offer information on the latest and most significant developments in clinical practice, research and education within digital radiology, including:
• PACS Planning and Purchasing Strategies
• PACS Evaluation and Economical Aspects
• PACS Beyond Radiology (Cardiology, Endoscopy, Ophthalmology, etc.)
• Image Distribution, Storage and Archiving Strategies
• Workflow and Data Flow in Radiology
• PACS/RIS/HIS Integration Issues
• Regional PACS and Teleradiology
• Security and Privacy, Quality Assurance, Legal Aspects
• Standardisation (DICOM, HL7, IHE)
• PACS and E-Learning in Radiology and Medical Sciences
Asset Tracking Technology for Hospitals
Asset tracking, a new and evolving technology, gives hospitals the ability to detect, identify, and locate assets (e.g. infusion pumps, wheelchairs) at any time, as well as record the physical locations of those assets over time. ECRI recently published an overview of asset tracking for hospitals that choose to start the selection process for this technology now.
ECRI’s evaluation critically examines the performance of four suppliers’ systems products: the Agility Healthcare Solutions ECRI’s guidance article found that while implementing an asset tracking system now would bring immediate benefits for some healthcare facilities, others are better off waiting for the marketplace to develop further. A comprehensive follow-up article published in ECRI’s Health Devices journal expands on product specifications and purchasing options. Hospitals can benefit from lessons learned through ECRI’s testing of the process of installing an asset tracking system, included in an analysis in the same journal issue.
ECRI’s evaluation critically examines the performance for four suppliers systems products the Agility Healthcare Solutions performance of four suppliers’ systems products: the Agility Healthcare Solutions AgileTrac, the Ekahau RTLS (Real-Time Location System), the Radianse Find Assets, and the Versus Technology Versus Information System (VIS). The products are rated for two basic locating applications: finding equipment for IPM (inspection and preventive maintenance) and recalls, and finding it for clinical use.
