MyCases-a portable application for radiologic case collections.

Radiologists come across interesting patient cases almost every day. This work proposes a novel case database server for quick and easy storage of such cases including whole image series, patient data, and annotations. Cases can be added to the database by saving DICOM images into a predefined directory on the local network. The application automatically extracts patient and study data from the DICOM header and saves it in the database while images are stored as anonymized JPEG files. Users can mark their cases as private or public (visible to all users). Different data fields for annotations and categorization of a case are available. The user frontend also provides several retrieval mechanisms allowing for browsing the cases and performing different kinds of search queries. The stored series can be scrolled interactively in the form of scrollable image stacks. The project is realized as a web-based application using a portable web and database server software package (XAMPP). This makes the system very lightweight and easy to run on almost any desktop computer, even from a USB flash drive, without the need for deeper IT knowledge and administrative rights.

Can the documented patient briefing be carried out with an iPad app?

To evaluate the feasibility of an iPad-based documented patient briefing for Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) examinations. A standard briefing sheet and questionnaire for a MRI scan was converted from paper form into an iPad application. Twenty patients, who had been referred for an MRI scan, were briefed about the examination in paper form as well as via the iPad application before performing the MRI scan. Time each patient needed for the briefing and the number of questions that came up were documented. Patients' acceptance of the electronic briefing was assessed using a questionnaire. The mean processing time was 2.36 min (range 0.58 to 09.35 min., standard deviation ±2.05 min) for the paper-based briefing and 4.15 min (range 1.56 to 13.48 min, SD ± 2.36 min) for the app-based briefing. Concerning technical aspects, patients asked two questions during the app-based briefing; no questions arose during the paper-based briefing. Six patients preferred electronic briefing and four patients, the paper-based form. No patient preferred the electronic form with additional multimedial information. Eight participants did not mind which briefing version was used; two participants did not express their preference at all. Our experiences showed that electronic briefing using an iPad is feasible and has the potential to become a user-friendly alternative to the conventional paper-based approach. Owing to the broad range of the results, a follow-up study will seek to determine the influencing factors on processing time and other potential questions.