一種新型結(jié)腸鏡配備了“息肉增強(qiáng)觀察”(polyp-enhanced viewing, PEV)軟件，被設(shè)計(jì)用作能夠自動(dòng)鑒別結(jié)腸病變的【除了放射科醫(yī)生之外的】第二位閱讀者。

配備PEV軟件的syngo結(jié)腸鏡系統(tǒng)，是由德國(guó)西門(mén)子醫(yī)療有限公司研制成功的。該系統(tǒng)允許放射科醫(yī)生對(duì)患者資料進(jìn)行計(jì)算機(jī)輔助的“第二次分析”，從而增加了檢測(cè)精確性并且減少了閱讀次數(shù)。

為了優(yōu)化工作流程，當(dāng)放射科醫(yī)生結(jié)束初次閱讀的時(shí)候，PEV結(jié)果就已經(jīng)準(zhǔn)備好供【放射科醫(yī)生】再次復(fù)習(xí)。除了放射科醫(yī)生第一次閱讀時(shí)候標(biāo)記出的所有的病變之外，PEV工具凸現(xiàn)出那些沒(méi)有被放射科醫(yī)生注意的可能病變，以及PEV工具沒(méi)有觀察到而放射科醫(yī)生提示的潛在病變。

當(dāng)計(jì)算機(jī)X線斷層掃描結(jié)腸鏡(computed tomography colonography, CTC)逐漸被認(rèn)可做為傳統(tǒng)結(jié)腸鏡升級(jí)換代工具的時(shí)候，以及對(duì)早期診斷疾病的要求不斷增加，放射科醫(yī)生就需要許多能夠加快工作流程的技術(shù)，例如PEV。

美國(guó)克利夫蘭診所(the Cleveland Clinic, OH, USA)腹部影像科的主任Mark Baker醫(yī)學(xué)博士說(shuō)：“閱讀CTC是一種要求十分嚴(yán)格的艱苦勞動(dòng)，需要注意力高度集中。閱讀疲勞是一種客觀存在的困難。考慮到美國(guó)缺乏足夠的放射科醫(yī)生來(lái)分析與日俱增的CT掃描資料，任何輔助分析CTC的幫助都將得到放射科醫(yī)生的熱烈歡迎。”

該系統(tǒng)優(yōu)化工作流程的其它特性包括：自動(dòng)測(cè)量息肉和對(duì)未不可見(jiàn)區(qū)域的可視化操作。“這些工具將加速診斷工作流程。手工測(cè)量息肉是一種耗時(shí)費(fèi)力的工作，而我們開(kāi)始治療之前需要知道息肉的大小。可靠的自動(dòng)化工具使得CTC診斷更加迅速。”德國(guó)門(mén)斯特大學(xué)診所(the University Clinic, Muenster, Germany)的Johannes Wessling醫(yī)學(xué)博士如此評(píng)價(jià)說(shuō)。

CT Colonography With Enhanced Polyp Viewing
 
A new colonography system with polyp-enhanced viewing (PEV) software is designed as a second-reader tool for automated identification of lesions in the colon.

The syngo colonography system with PEV, developed by Siemens Medical Solutions (Erlangen, Germany), allows the radiologist to make a computer-assisted “second pass” over the patient data, thereby attempting to increase detection accuracy and reduce reading times.

Focused on optimizing workflow efficiency, PEV results are ready for reviewing as the radiologist confirms the end of the primary read. The PEV tool then highlights potential lesions that were not tagged by the radiologist, in addition to all potential lesions marked by the radiologist during the first read, and also indicated potential lesions tagged by the radiologist that were not visualized by the PEV tool.

As computed tomography colonography (CTC) gains increasing acceptance as an alternative to traditional colonoscopy and demand rises for early detection, radiologists have a lot to gain from workflow-enhancing techniques such as PEV.

“Reading CTC is a demanding, meticulous process, requiring focused and extremely attentive concentration. Reader fatigue is a real problem. Given the fact that there are not enough radiologists to interpret the growing number of CT scans performed in the United States, any assistance in interpreting CTC will be embraced enthusiastically by radiologists,” said Mark Baker, M.D., head of abdominal imaging at the Cleveland Clinic (OH, USA).

Additional workflow enhancements to the system include automated polyp measurement and visualization of unseen regions. “These tools will really speed up may diagnostic workflow. It is time-consuming to measure polyps manually, and we need to know polyp size before recommending treatment. Reliable automated tools will make CTC diagnosis quicker,” observed Johannes Wessling, M.D., from the University Clinic, Muenster, Germany.