Imaging informatics, also known as radiology informatics or medical imaging informatics, is a subspecialty of

biomedical informatics Health informatics is the field of science and engineering that aims at developing methods and technologies for the acquisition, processing, and study of patient data, which can come from different sources and modalities, such as electronic hea ...

that aims to improve the efficiency, accuracy, usability and reliability of medical imaging services within the healthcare enterprise. It is devoted to the study of how information about and contained within medical images is retrieved, analyzed, enhanced, and exchanged throughout the medical enterprise. As radiology is an inherently data-intensive and technology-driven specialty, those in this branch of medicine have become leaders in Imaging Informatics. However, with the proliferation of digitized images across the practice of medicine to include fields such as cardiology, ophthalmology, dermatology, surgery, gastroenterology, obstetrics, gynecology and pathology, the advances in Imaging Informatics are also being tested and applied in other areas of medicine. Various industry players and vendors involved with medical imaging, along with IT experts and other biomedical informatics professionals, are contributing and getting involved in this expanding field. Imaging informatics exists at the intersection of several broad fields: *biological science – includes bench sciences such as biochemistry, microbiology, physiology and genetics *clinical services – includes the practice of medicine, bedside research, including outcomes and cost-effectiveness studies, and public health policy *

information science Information science (also known as information studies) is an academic field which is primarily concerned with analysis, collection, classification, manipulation, storage, retrieval, movement, dissemination, and protection of informatio ...

– deals with the acquisition, retrieval, cataloging, and archiving of information *

medical physics Medical physics deals with the application of the concepts and methods of physics to the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of human diseases with a specific goal of improving human health and well-being. Since 2008, medical physics has been incl ...

biomedical engineering Biomedical engineering (BME) or medical engineering is the application of engineering principles and design concepts to medicine and biology for healthcare purposes (e.g., diagnostic or therapeutic). BME is also traditionally logical sciences ...

– entails the use of equipment and technology for a medical purpose * cognitive science – studying human computer interactions, usability, and information visualization *

computer science Computer science is the study of computation, automation, and information. Computer science spans theoretical disciplines (such as algorithms, theory of computation, information theory, and automation) to practical disciplines (includi ...

– studying the use of computer algorithms for applications such as computer assisted diagnosis and computer vision

Areas of interest

Key areas relevant to Imaging informatics include: *

Picture archiving and communication system A picture archiving and communication system (PACS) is a medical imaging technology which provides economical storage and convenient access to images from multiple modalities (source machine types). Electronic images and reports are transmitted ...

(PACS) and component systems *Imaging informatics for the enterprise *Image-enabled

electronic medical records An electronic health record (EHR) is the systematized collection of patient and population electronically stored health information in a digital format. These records can be shared across different health care settings. Records are shared throu ...

* Radiology Information Systems (RIS) and Hospital Information Systems (HIS) *Digital image acquisition * Image processing and enhancement *

Radiomics In the field of medicine, radiomics is a method that extracts a large number of features from medical images using data-characterisation algorithms. These features, termed radiomic features, have the potential to uncover tumoral patterns and char ...

*Image

data compression In information theory, data compression, source coding, or bit-rate reduction is the process of encoding information using fewer bits than the original representation. Any particular compression is either lossy or lossless. Lossless compressio ...

* 3D visualization and

multimedia Multimedia is a form of communication that uses a combination of different content forms such as text, audio, images, animations, or video into a single interactive presentation, in contrast to tradit ...

Speech recognition Speech recognition is an interdisciplinary subfield of computer science and computational linguistics that develops methodologies and technologies that enable the recognition and translation of spoken language into text by computers with the ...

Computer-aided diagnosis Computer-aided detection (CADe), also called computer-aided diagnosis (CADx), are systems that assist doctors in the interpretation of medical images. Imaging techniques in X-ray, MRI, Endoscopy, and ultrasound diagnostics yield a great deal o ...

(CAD). *Imaging facilities design *Imaging vocabularies and

ontologies In computer science and information science, an ontology encompasses a representation, formal naming, and definition of the categories, properties, and relations between the concepts, data, and entities that substantiate one, many, or all domains ...

* Data mining from medical images

database In computing, a database is an organized collection of data stored and accessed electronically. Small databases can be stored on a file system, while large databases are hosted on computer clusters or cloud storage. The design of databases s ...

s * Transforming the Radiological Interpretation Process (TRIP) * DICOM, HL7, FHIR and other standards *

Workflow A workflow consists of an orchestrated and repeatable pattern of activity, enabled by the systematic organization of resources into processes that transform materials, provide services, or process information. It can be depicted as a sequence o ...

and

process modeling The term process model is used in various contexts. For example, in business process modeling the enterprise process model is often referred to as the ''business process model''. Overview Process models are processes of the same nature that a ...

and

process simulation Process simulation is used for the design, development, analysis, and optimization of technical processes such as: chemical plants, chemical processes, environmental systems, power stations, complex manufacturing operations, biological processes, ...

* Quality assurance *Archive integrity and security *

Teleradiology Teleradiology is the transmission of radiological patient images, such as x-rays, CTs, and MRIs, from one location to another for the purposes of sharing studies with other radiologists and physicians. Teleradiology is a growth technology given ...

*Radiology informatics

education Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty ...

Digital imaging Digital imaging or digital image acquisition is the creation of a digital representation of the visual characteristics of an object, such as a physical scene or the interior structure of an object. The term is often assumed to imply or include t ...

Training

In the US and some other countries, Radiologists who wish to pursue sub-specialty training in this field can undergo fellowship training in imaging informatics
Medical Imaging Informatics Fellowships
are done after completion of Board Certification in Diagnostic Radiology, and may be pursued concurrently with other sub-specialty radiology fellowships. The American Board of Imaging Informatics (ABII) also administers a certification examination for Imaging Informatics Professionals. PARCA (PACS Administrators Registry and Certification Association) certifications also exist for imaging informatics professionals. The American Board of Preventive Medicine (ABPM) offers a certification examination for Clinical Informatics for physicians who have primary board certification with the American Board of Medical Specialties, a medical license and a medical degree. There are two pathways to be eligible to sit for the examination: Practice Pathway (open through 2022) for those who have not completed ACGME-accredited fellowship training in Clinical Informatics and ACGME-Accredited Fellowship Pathway of at least 24 months in duration.

References

External links

The Society for Imaging Informatics in MedicineAmerican Board of Imaging Informatics
{{Informatics Bioinformatics *