Multimodality, Multivendor Imaging Portal Facilitates Better Collaboration for Patient Care

A multimodality workspace uses sophisticated networking capabilities to facilitate collaboration between radiologists and referring clinicians that may lead to faster, more effective, and informed patient care.

Featured at the 96th annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA), held in Chicago, IL, USA, November 28-December 2, 2010, the IntelliSpace Portal, developed by Philips Healthcare (Best, The Netherlands;), turns virtually any personal computer (PC) into an advanced multimodality imaging system workspace and offers clinicians the ability to view images anywhere, from multiple imaging modalities, including those from non-Philips systems, without moving to a specialized workstation.

Currently, sophisticated visualization workstations typically reside only within the radiology department, and many are tied to a specific imaging system necessitating multiple workstations. Radiologists analyze images and place their findings and diagnoses in reports delivered to referring physicians. The IntelliSpace Portal offers Collaborator, the first medical networking platform allowing for collaboration among radiologists, referring physicians, and specialists with the ability to share images and data, and discuss the cases in real time through a chat feature. Once an image is shared, the results can be reviewed via a secure, interactive browser allowing clinicians the flexibility to evaluate results collaboratively at the hospital, immediately for critical situations, or in the office at their convenience. The ability to share findings and images closer to real time and, most significantly, the facilitation of an enhanced clinical dialogue between radiologist and referring physician, can lead to a faster and more effective patient diagnosis and care.

The IntelliSpace Portal also gives clinicians convenient access to advanced clinical applications and new workflow and collaboration tools without tethering them to the workstation in the imaging suite. The system's thin-client architecture makes image data and applications available anywhere they are needed for all CT, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and nuclear medicine images. Moreover, the IntelliSpace Portal can be integrated with non-Philips' picture archiving and communication systems (PACS).

Because it supports advanced clinical applications, the IntelliSpace Portal can be used for radiology, cardiology, oncology, and other specialties. Multimodality Tumor Tracking is a new application that brings together patient exams from different modalities over the course of discovery, diagnosis, staging, and treatment, providing a total look at the patient's care. The application also provides tumor segmentation of all lesions across all time points, and reports on the growth and functional changes of individual lesions in the form of standards (RECIST, PRECIST).

"The IntelliSpace Portal is a virtual cockpit of information with the radiologist in the driver's seat, providing diagnosis, and collaboration anytime, anywhere,” said Gene Saragnese, general manager, imaging systems, for Philips Healthcare. "We've done our homework, and we understand the challenges that radiologists face as they strive to be the best advisors possible at every point in the cycle of patient care. IntelliSpace Portal is where it all comes together.”

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