Congress:
EuroSafe Imaging 2020
Keywords:
Not applicable, Quality assurance, Safety, CT, Management, Action 6 - Clinical audit tool for imaging
Authors:
A. Nishie, D. Kakihara, A. Machitori, S. Aoki, M. Jinzaki, N. Tomiyama, O. Abe, K. Togashi, H. Gobara
DOI:
10.26044/esi2020/ESI-06143
Background/introduction
Diagnostic imaging has progressed very quickly and has contributed greatly to clinical medicine. Large-sized medical imaging systems including CT and MRI have become common in Japan, and patients can undergo such examinations across the nation. However, it is difficult to utilize the imaging data obtained at individual hospitals on a nationwide basis. Several problems remain to be solved, including poor efficiency in clinical practices, overly high medical bills and concerns about medical safety. The advance of information and communication technology (ICT) may enable the use of "big data" to solve some of these problems.
In such a situation the Japan Radiological Society (JRS) is advocating the development of so-called 'Japan Safe Radiology,' and we began a project known as the "Development of the Japan Medical Imaging Database (J-MID)' with the support of the Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development (AMED), which is the public medical fund. The aim of the J-MID development project is to construct a system for the network-type management of diagnostic imaging nationwide. We aim to generate, analyze, and utilize a national database of diagnostic imaging and thereby to improve medical techniques in terms of safety, standardization, and the optimization of image scanning, and also to apply the database to medical policy. The characteristic of this project is to carry out an “all Japan” organization under the auspices of the largest society related to diagnostic imaging in our country, the JRS, in cooperation with the Japan Medical Imaging and Radiological Systems Industries Association (JIRA) and supported by AMED.
In this project, a storage and registry server (J-MID server) was established. Medical imaging data collected from many institutions throughout Japan have been integrated in the server. By using these imaging data, new medical technology may be developed, and multi-center collaboration studies may also be designed with ease, resulting in the promotion of clinical research. Specific items to be carried out include (1) the optimal distribution of radiologists and medical equipment across the country, (2) the development of a clinical decision support (CDS) system for the proper utilization of medical equipment, (3) the network-type management of radiation exposure doses (Dose Index Registry: DIR), (4) the proper quantitation of medical imaging data based on the establishment of Japan's Quantitative Imaging Biomarker Alliance (J-QIBA), and (5) the unification of diagnostic reports. A further goal of the J-MID development project is (6) the clinical application of artificial intelligence (AI) using the J-MID. In the next section we describe in greater detail the activities to be advanced using the J-MID.