In the world of radiology, the ability to manage and manipulate images is almost as important as the image itself. As such, utilizing an efficient, cost-effective imaging software solution is crucial for many facilities. In an effort to quantify and qualify how effective its imaging software is in the real world, Siemens recently undertook a study that turned the microscope on its syngo.via software.
Siemens’ syngo.via software can process images from multiple modalities such as this MR oncology study.
The syngo.via software was originally introduced in 2009. It can be used as a stand-alone device or together with a variety of syngo.via-based software options. The software can process images from multiple modalities including interventional imaging, CT, MRI, oncology, cardiovascular imaging, and PET/CT.
In addition, syngo.via automatically prepares cases for reading and guides users step-by-step, tailored to the individual disease. The 3D reading and advanced visualization software enables clinicians to meet the respective requirements by automatically loading, for example, CT or MR images into the appropriate application and sorting them into the disease-specific corresponding layout. Manual work steps are eliminated and the clinician can start diagnosing immediately.
“The design goals of this project were not to build yet another 3D workstation or software,” said Rik Primo, director of strategic relationships for the SYNGO business unit. “The design goal was to build a system that could dramatically change the workflow in 3D. While changing the workflow, we were not looking for something to make it more complicated. We were looking to find something that would make the results precise and would produce the results in a shorter time.”
Recently, Siemens conducted a survey with customers in Germany, Austria, and Spain to measure the efficiency of the syngo.via software compared to a conventional advanced visualization workstation. Six medical sites participated in the efficiency study, which took account of a total number of seven different clinical workflows.
The case mix per workflow has been determined by each site, reflecting their daily clinical routine. An adequate number of cases were measured and analyzed per workflow—each site measured 10 to 20 cases per workflow—with regard to the following question: What time savings can be achieved by using syngo.via compared to a conventional workstation?
The study showed that the use of syngo.via can achieve time savings and patient-centric productivity gains in all of the observed workflows. The observed average time savings from syngo.via for CT cardiac amounted to 77%; for oncology diagnosis with PET/CT to 45%; when diagnosing oncology and neurology MR examinations, the syngo.via resulted in 32% and 23% time savings, respectively; for CT vascular, time savings amounted to 27%; and image evaluation for PET/CT and CT oncology follow-ups showed time savings of 30% and 16% compared to a conventional advanced visualization or PACS workstation.
“The reason they started to do the study in Europe is because we introduced the syngo.via product in Europe a year and a half earlier than we did in the United States,” Primo said. “In Europe, the radiologists are very hands-on with the image acquisition. It is not unusual in Europe to see that the MR neuroradiologist is actually sitting at the scanner console at the moment of the acquisition. This is unheard of in the United States. In the United States, in 99.9% of the cases, it’s the radiological technologist who is acquiring the images.
“In the American market, we probably won’t see these tremendous gains of 77%. Maybe we’ll see 20% because the technologist is basically doing the preprocessing in the United States.”
In addition to this study, Siemens conducted a usability survey among the study participants. The six facilities stated that syngo.via is performing better regarding the aspects data preparation, usability of viewing and measurement tools, and documentation and reporting than the former software.
“syngo.via is an excellent tool to increase the productivity of radiologists working on cardiac images,” said Professor Gudrun Feuchtner from Innsbruck University Hospital in Austria, one of the facilities included in the study.
“I think that we will see in the United States increases in the efficiency of the radiologist, but we also will see that the technologist is becoming more productive,” Primo said. “These are exactly the design goals: improve quality and reduce costs. Anyone in health care today has those two important goals.”
