Thomas W. Loehfelm MD, PhD, Presenter: Founder, Panorad

Jason Daehn Balkman MD, Abstract Co-Author: Nothing to Disclose

Standardized object models for radiology educational content analogous to the Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine (DICOM) standard were developed, enabling cross-platform sharing of structured radiology educational content. This work may allow owners of radiology content to reach a broader audience and enable software developers to optimize presentation of cases for a variety of devices.

User-generated teaching content comprises a significant portion of current online radiology education. Various case sharing platforms exist, such as the ACR Learning File®, AIRP Archive, Radiopaedia, and LearningRadiology, but no standardized case file data structure has been adopted. Such a standard would facilitate cross-platform sharing of online teaching files.

We evaluated current standards for sharing educational radiology content, focusing on the Sharable Content Object Reference Model (SCORM). Commercially available cloud computing products, including Google Cloud SQL, Cloud Store, and App Engine were identified as potential platforms to host content. Software models relevant to teaching files and individual cases were developed along with required database structure and server functions to enable the creation, storage, and retrieval of this content from the cloud. Web, Android, and iOS applications were developed to give end-users access to a growing library of standardized, structured, shared educational content.

The widespread use of mobile devices and object-oriented software together create unprecedented opportunities for sharing radiology content online. Currently, the storage and structure of online radiology teaching files is not standardized, but rather is divided across numerous websites and software applications, each with their own content definitions. As the quality of online case content continues to increase, standardized definitions for case content should be developed to encourage efficient file sharing and presentation. In this work, the concept of a radiology case is defined using object-oriented software development principles as an object containing a title, discussion, diagnosis, various other data fields, as well as structured image content.

Loehfelm, T, Balkman, J, Standardized Software Object Models for Radiology Educational Content.  Radiological Society of North America 2014 Scientific Assembly and Annual Meeting, - ,Chicago IL. http://archive.rsna.org/2014/14015296.html