Quo Vadis Radiology?

Guest post by Dr. András Palkó, head of the European Society of Radiology

When googling “Mona Lisa,” there are 57,700,000 results including reproductions, and this can be the future of radiology too once cloud computing has been introduced in this field. A paradigm change like implementing searchable international or at least national databases of disease histories would represent a major step forward towards more effective medical treatment. Moreover, there are other technologies available in our everyday life that could be successfully incorporated into our current institutionalized healthcare system. All in all companies strive to match more closely their therapies to the patients that they can benefit; and therefore diagnostic world and the biopharma world starting to work a lot more together.

Cloud computing in radiology means new opportunity

Innovation and modern technology can definitely bring about a new era for radiology in four main areas. The first is already present: imaging is satisfying the needs of clinics by providing high-resolution diagnostic images. The other recently started development is integrated diagnostics, while the third is information development in radiology and MRI, focusing on mass computing, clouding, and robotics. Last but not least, machine to machine communications should also become a common practice with professionals using tablets to discuss diagnosis instead of engaging in onsite consultation.

And how can CEE contribute to better healthcare in the region as well on global scale?

Just like some of the history’s most acknowledged regional scientists were already featured on GEforCEE, such as Jaroslav Heyrovsky, who invented the polarographic method, Dennis Gabor, inventor of the holographic method or double Nobel-prize winner in radiology Maria Skłodowska-Curie on radiology, we witness acknowledged R&D activities in CEE nowadays that can make us proud. R&D, especially in imaging software development, is today’s  key buzzword in the region and the internationally acknowledged CEE universities and clinics make us the brains and drivers of this effort. We keep saying ‘Imagine and it becomes reality’, but we should never forget about the human aspects.