Better than a circus
BY BRADLEY M. TIPLER, M.D.
As always, the scientific exhibits are overwhelming. I spent all day today shuffling up and down the rows of viewboxes and posters. Even by skimming half of them, I still only covered about a third of the exhibits today. Some are great. They present new techniques, review classic findings, or summarize the latest developments in a small area. Others are fascinating. I don't know when I'll have to do an exam on a sword swallower, but after seeing a film about one (sword in place), I understand how they do it. I just can't imagine why.
One interesting fact: Sword swallowing is safer than esophageal endoscopy. There has been only one reported fatal perforation from downing a dagger. There must be some way we can use this fact in our ongoing debate with the gastroenterologists. The ACR is planning a big PR campaign focused on educating the public about radiologists and their role in healthcare. Perhaps the ACR could use this information, "The Upper GI Series–safer than endoscopy and sword swallowing."
Some of the exhibits are baffling. They cram about five thousand words with no pictures or diagrams into a space the size of four chest films, and presumably the author thinks some one will read it. No way. With thousands of amazing images on display, reading fine print is the last thing I want to do.
It is very generous of people to spend the time and energy to produce these exhibits, even the lousy ones. People are genuinely interested in sharing their knowledge. I spent a long time today with Dr. Perry Arnold, going over his techniques for restoring patency in thrombosed dialysis grafts. Not only had he produced an excellent poster display and video on his technique, but he spent a lot of time at the meeting explaining the process in person. I like his ideas. Now I wish he could come up with a way to keep these folks from presenting on Friday night.
Some of the exhibits discuss how much time, work, and money went into the study or project featured in the display. My favorite today listed the value of various components, including "40 hours of radiology resident's time–about 25 cents."
I also spent quite a while at InfoRAD both today and yesterday. This year they went with a small town theme, apparently an effort to make it less intimidating, and it seemed to work. The top award for an InfoRAD exhibit this year went to Dr. Paul Chang, et al, from the University of Pittsburgh. The work on the enterprise-wide distribution of images suggested some techniques that I suspect will radically change the nature of PACS systems. Chang's methods significantly reduce the amount of expensive hardware needed. Whether this will appeal to the big PACS producers is a separate question, since they seem to prefer selling expensive rather than inexpensive equipment. They'll probably just incorporate the cheaper techniques and forget to pass on the savings.
Last night I learned a lot about off-site, long-term archiving of digital images. WamNet, a company new to the medical field but well established in the storage of graphic arts images, had the best reception of the year. Not only did I have a good time, but their engineers taught me some things about wide-area networks and image storage. If you're coming to the RSNA meeting next year, tell them you'll be glad to talk to them about their service'at their party.
