Visual Interpretation with Three-Dimensional Annotations (VITA): Three-Dimensional Image Interpretation Tool for Radiological Reporting

Abstract

This paper introduces a software framework called Visual Interpretation with Three-Dimensional Annotations (VITA) that is able to automatically generate threedimensional (3D) visual summaries based on radiological annotations made during routine exam reporting. VITA summaries are in the form of rotating 3D volumes where radiological annotations are highlighted to place important clinical observations into a 3D context. The rendered volume is produced as a Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine (DICOM) object and is automatically added to the study for archival in Picture Archiving and Communication System (PACS). In addition, a video summary (e.g., MPEG4) can be generated for sharing with patients and for situations where DICOM viewers are not readily available to referring physicians. The current version of VITA is compatible with ClearCanvas; however, VITA can work with any PACS workstation that has a structured annotation implementation (e.g., Extendible Markup Language, Health Level 7, Annotation and Image Markup) and is able to seamlessly integrate into the existing reporting workflow. In a survey with referring physicians, the vast majority strongly agreed that 3D visual summaries improve the communication of the radiologists' reports and aid communication with patients.

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“…For example, semantic features of a lung tumor might include "left lower lobe," "pleural attachment," "spiculated," "ground-glass opacity," etc. 35 Some semantic features, such as location, other morbidities, etc, are meant to be complementary to computational features, whereas others, such as "spherical," "heterogeneous," etc, are correlated with computational features. Furthermore, structured reports may not support the types of detailed observations required for making fine distinctions among tumor characteristics that may prove useful in classification or assessing response.…”

“…2) 32,33 and the Annotated Image Markup (AIM) data service plug-in 34 to ClearCanvas. 35 Some semantic features, such as location, other morbidities, etc, are meant to be complementary to computational features, whereas others, such as "spherical," "heterogeneous," etc, are correlated with computational features. 36,37 One advantage of semantic annotations is that they are immediately translatable (ie, they can be ascribed in clinical environments without specialized algorithms [eg, segmentation] or workstations).…”