Date: Sat, 8 Nov 2003 12:11:08 -0600
Subject: PACS & preoperative templating
From: Zeev Glozman
Hello
How many of you have had expirence with the PACS and/or preoperative planning ? templating?
Zeev
Date: Sun, 9 Nov 2003 18:38:24 EST
From: DGFWRIGHT1
a bit, my hospital uses pacs,,,so that what i have to use.........douglas
Date: Mon, 10 Nov 2003 09:00:55 -0600
From: Steven Rabin
We have it. It works great for measuring angles preop. For measuring displacement, it works great IF the image is corrected for magnification. This is something that the radiologist or technician has to do manually as a separate step. Because it requires extra effort, it is often not done unless you specifically request it. There is a built-in ruler which works great IF the image has been corrected. It gives a number that is meaningless if the image has not been corrected. For templating stems, the hardware is currently inadequate. We print out x-rays and template from the printout. The PACS engineers are working on improving their software and promise that reliable templating will be available "soon," but we are not holding our breath! PACS is wonderful for communication since it can be accessed all over the hospital and outside the hospital as well, and the files are easy to download and send via email or use in presentations. However it does have its problems with templating since it is designed for radiologists who don't really care about templating.
Good luck.
Date: Mon, 10 Nov 2003 11:33:46 -0600
From: Frederic B. Wilson, M.D.
Zeev,
We've been through this a number of times. The most reliable seems to be making measurements with the tools provided with your PACS system. For hip arthroplasty, as an example, we usually take actual measurements of offset and neck length and cup diameter. There are reported to be various templating software out there. I haven't ever seen them work effectively.
I have often wondered why this could not be made an initiative of the AAOS to meet with the ASTM and establish industry wide standards in conjunction with the Radiographic Companies. It would seem that the big obstacle would be the "proprietary" software that each of the manufacturers employs for their systems.
Fred
From: Zeev Glozman
Hello
Well, we developed a software like this, for trauma as well as hip and knee. There are many exercises that can done with it, I would ask you to take a look at the demo page of our product, and then if you continue to be interested I would be happy to give you and evaluation copy.
Take a look www.ortho-cad.com/reelshow.htm
Zeev