Radiology infrastructure for non-radiologists: building a mobile and cost-effective DICOM viewing based forensic-radiologic network

Zielsetzung:

Forensic imaging gained a central role in forensic case assessment over the last years. As the majority of institutes of forensic medicine still have no radiological infrastructure available, the establishment of a sufficient image acquisition and communication workflow should be achieved. Here we introduce a technical approach to facilitate forensic-radiological collaborations based on mobile applications.

Material und Methodik:

The available imaging infrastructure of the local Institute of forensic medicine was integrated into our radiology department. Integration was supported by virtual private network (VPN) and an in-house developed offline-capable DICOM viewer. The procedure was in accordance with federal law governing data protection and data security.

Ergebnisse:

A forensic-radiological workflow was established which enabled to exchange imaging data between clinical radiologists and forensic pathologists. If radiological expertise was required, forensic pathologists could easily transfer images to radiologists who could either view images as well as generate radiological reports. Forensic pathologists on the other hand could view images in combination with reports and also had easy (mobile) access to the data during the whole course of autopsy.

Schlussfolgerungen:

A cost-effective radiologic infrastructure for data transfer between forensic pathology and radiology supported by mobile applications was established. Previously existing limited IT-conditions could be compensated.