Overview. Objectives

Overview

In the field of medicine, there are currently numerous medical imaging techniques that allow the recording of information from inside the human body by means of so-called non-invasive techniques, in which there are no instruments that physically penetrate the patient's body. An example of these noninvasive imaging techniques that are widely used is the use of X-rays. These methods produce information in the form of images, called medical imaging.

Diagnostic imaging

Imaging allows doctors to look inside the body for signs of a pathology, since it allows them to observe anatomical structures in the living subject and study their movement in normal and abnormal activities.

As technology has advanced, new techniques have appeared. They allow us to generate three-dimensional representations of the interior of the human body. This 3D data is constructed from sequential series of 2D images. Likewise, the support in which these images are distributed is no longer physical, but digital, with its own file format and a specific distribution infrastructure: inter-hospital and interconsultation.

The 3D Slicer software allows the representation of this information, generating 3D representations and facilitating the interpretation of data obtained by medical professionals.

Image types

A variety of devices and techniques can create images of structures and activities inside the human body. The type of imaging used by the medical professional will depend on your symptoms and the part of the body being examined. Here are some of them:

• X-rays
• Computerized tomography
• Magnetic resonance
• Ultrasound
• Nuclear medicine techniques

Context of the use

There are two possible contexts:

Clinical Context

In the clinical setting there are two professional profiles: on the one hand, the professional who is in charge of the acquisition of medical images with diagnostic quality and, on the other hand, the doctor who interprets these images and makes diagnostic decisions based on them. Depending on the device, and the immediacy of the data provided by it, the two profiles can be matched in one, with the doctor himself capturing the image and interpreting it.

Scientific research

As a field of scientific research, medical imaging is a sub-discipline of biomedical engineering, medical physics or medicine, depending on the context. Research and development in the area of instrumentation, image acquisition, modeling and quantification are normally reserved for biomedical engineering, medical physics and computer science. Research in the application and interpretation of medical imaging is normally reserved for radiology and relevant medical sub-disciplines in the field of medical imaging. Many of the techniques developed for medical imaging are also scientific and industrial applications.