Information Technology in Medicine
by Thomas Berlage
Information and communication technologies are about to make a massive
move into medical practice, not only in selected areas of 'high-tech' medicine,
but throughout the field. Research in information technologies is needed
in the areas of medical imaging, telecooperation, education and training
Medical images are produced in such a number and richness of detail
that they can only be analyzed with the help of the computer. Computers
not only improve the quality of the images, but also help in reconstructing
structures, detecting anomalies and measuring. In particular, computers
help with an appropriate visualization to make the image contents understandable
to the clinician. Three-dimensional images are used more and more. They
have the inherent problem that it is extremely difficult to visualize images
consisting of a cloud of material in different shades of grey. Mechanisms
have to be found that render the interesting detail and hide other structures
that are not relevant for a particular situation. The selection and composition
of algorithms depend on the medical goals of a particular analysis and
thus can only be determined together with medical experts.
Images are needed to plan and control microinvasive surgical procedures.
It is therefore necessary to design systems that support the physician
with appropriate visualizations throughout the whole process from image
acquisition, diagnosis, treatment planning, surgery to final control.
As medical professionals become more specialized, diagnosis and treatment
occur in cooperation between different physicians that may be distributed.
They have to use computers to exchange their medical data, in particular
images. However, data transfer alone is not sufficient. they must also
be able to communicate about their patients, to talk freely about medical
data and refer to that data during their discussion. Merging these two
communication channels (verbal and data communication) is a challenge that
needs to be addressed before teleconsultation can be reasonably efficient.
And finally, medical knowledge increases at an amazing pace. Physicians
are required to keep up with new knowledge for their whole life. To ensure
the quality of diagnosis and treatment, special emphasis on continuous
education is needed. Computer-based techniques can help with this task,
in particular if they provide training on the job, assisting in the analysis
of images and teleconsultation.
All these problems can be solved only in interdisciplinary teams. One
needs physicians that are open-minded to think about new computer-based
approaches. Computer scientists have to listen for the problems of their
medical partners. Psychologists have to look at human-human and human-computer
interaction. Engineers and administrators have to make things work. A single
profession can no longer deal with all aspects of the complex problems.
Furthermore, new systems have to be designed iteratively, with the user
in mind. Systems must be addressed to real user problems. However, it is
not possible to completely assess the value of a new development before
it is taken into daily practice with real users. Developers must be ready
to radically change their systems until these really meet the user needs.
Users must be involved, but not in a naive fashion ("tell me what
you need"). A constructive dialog between users and developers, involving
a sequence of prototype systems, is needed to acquire the real user needs.
The following examples show that ERCIM members work together with medical
partners on all these aspects. These interdisciplinary activities are needed
to broaden the influence of computer science research in our society throughout
Europe.
Please contact:
Thomas Berlage - GMD
Tel: +49 2241 2141
E-mail: berlage@gmd.de
