The Radiology Report of the Future: Structured, Quantitative
As diagnostic images become increasingly detailed and newer methods of data acquisition and image reformation are employed, the wealth of information that will be uncovered must be addressed. This information goes far beyond simple linear, area and volumetric measurements of masses or attenuation measured in Hounsfield units on CT.
 Robert M. Quencer, M.D. |
While much of this information may not be of obvious clinical utility, it will be important in the coming years to determine what critical clinical questions can be more directly addressed using quantitative data—that is, what is really needed in a standard radiology report?
Examples of potentially useful and reportable data abound, such as relaxation values of cartilage on short TE sequences, velocity of cerebrospinal fluid flow, fractional anisotropic values and concentration of biochemical compounds on MR spectroscopy. These data will require standardization of quantitative measurements, so that values from center to center, and even from machine to machine in the same center, can be compared. Along with quantitative measurements comes the need for a radiology report that is highly structured so that these measurements and values can be easily compared from study to study.
Qualitative assessment will always be a fundamental part of radiology reports. However, the expectation from our clinical colleagues will increasingly be for a report which, in part, contains structured quantitative data. Over the next few years, RSNA will help set the agenda for determining which quantitative data are clinically useful and how to most effectively convey that information in radiology reports.
