Vahid Yaghmai MD, Presenter: Nothing to Disclose

Sivaraja K. Kuppuswami MD, Abstract Co-Author: Nothing to Disclose

Ayis T. Pyrros MD, Abstract Co-Author: Nothing to Disclose

Mehdi Rohany MD, Abstract Co-Author: Nothing to Disclose

David Donald Casalino MD, Abstract Co-Author: Nothing to Disclose

Radiology residents are frequently on rotations that may be away from the main teaching institution. Hence, sharing teaching cases with residents can pose a technical challenge in a large teaching institution with several teaching sites. We assessed the feasibility of using wireless personal digital assistant (PDA) for the purpose of distributing unknown teaching files to radiology residents so that they could prepare for the conferences before they arrived at the main teaching institution.

Thirty-three teaching cases (10 CT, 12 ultrasound and 11 MR), each with one or two images and none with a patient identifier, were converted to Palm Database (pdb) format and emailed to a Treo-270 communicator wireless device (palmOne, Milipitas, CA) as attachments. The file size ranged between 10-15 KB for each image. The files attached were named “unknown” or were given the diagnosis as the filename. FireViewer software (Firepad, Inc, Costa Mesa, CA) was utilized to review the attachments at a remote site (approximately 5 miles from the hospital). The wireless connectivity was achieved utilizing a commercially available wireless Internet service. An attending radiologist reviewed the quality of images for the findings relevant to each case and assigned a score between zero and five, zero being non-diagnostic and five showing all the relevant findings.

All teaching files were successfully received and accessed by the wireless PDA. The time from receipt of an email to the viewing of the images was less than 20 seconds for all cases. Thirty-one out of thirty three cases (94%) were judged to have a score of 5 and two case were assigned a score of 4 (6%). None of the cases had a non-diagnostic image.

Wireless PDA can be a robust medium for distribution of radiology teaching files and unknown cases among residents. This can help residents prepare for the teaching conferences more effectively.

Yaghmai, V, Kuppuswami, S, Pyrros, A, Rohany, M, Casalino, D, Feasibility of Using a Wireless PDA to Distribute Teaching Files to Radiology Residents In a Large Teaching Institution with Several Teaching Sites.  Radiological Society of North America 2005 Scientific Assembly and Annual Meeting, November 27 - December 2, 2005 ,Chicago IL. http://archive.rsna.org/2005/4418888.html