Benefits Of Digital Medical Imaging

High resolution lenses for machine vision — standard and custom lens design

The Benefits Of Digital Medical Imaging

High Resolution Lenses for machine vision, instrumentation, inspection and vibration-sensitive applications. Standard and custom hi-res lens assemblies.

From its beginnings, medical imaging relied on the film generated by x-rays through the use of medical imaging lenses, advancements today though have moved largely from the film-only x-rays to a digital imaging format. The digital format is called DICOM and is a format that is similar to a jpg format in which typical photographs are taken and saved. The DICOM format of medical images offers physicians the opportunity to view digital images on a web-based image viewer. The images generated are compressed and archived in the DICOM format which makes for much easier storage and retrieval as compared to hard copy film x-rays. The images are generated through high-resolution diagnostic cameras and are used in testing ranging from diagnostic endoscope procedures to typical medical x-ray scanning.

DICOM technology offers many advantages including the fact that it only takes seconds to “develop” the image as compared to the several hours it used to take to develop x-ray films. The speed helps enhance the care patients receive and also improves workflow and healthcare efficiency.

The second advantage of DICOM imaging is that physicians and other caregivers can view the images on a workstation regardless of where they are in the hospital or care facility. Additionally, while an x-ray image was a static view, a DICOM image can be enhanced and “zoomed” to enhance the view the physician is observing. Brightness, contrast and other editing features are available to make the image clearer and this helps physicians make a more accurate diagnosis and prescribe a more complete treatment plan.

Using a web-based picture archiving and communication systems (PACS) is secure as each user has a unique password to assure patient confidentiality. Web-based PACS are extremely useful in the event of a natural disaster or an evacuation of a particular area as the patient’s images and medical records can be accessed from any secure web-based hospital browser.

The ease of the transmission of digital medical images is useful especially when a patient is transferred between, or within, a healthcare facility. The system saves the DICOM images on a local area network and this offers physicians the ability to consult with other specialists within a specific facility or from around the world. Advancements in the digital medical imaging realm serve to enhance the care that patients receive.