CT Colonography With Enhanced Polyp Viewing

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.




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