Development and Implementation of a Comprehensive CT Protocol Website Updated Automatically with An In-House Software
Presentations
TU-D930-IePD-F6-1 (Tuesday, 7/12/2022) 9:30 AM - 10:00 AM [Eastern Time (GMT-4)]
Exhibit Hall | Forum 6
Purpose: Computed tomography (CT) protocols need to be reviewed by radiologists and others in practice on a regular basis. The process involves examining clinical indications, contrast usage, scan range, and technical details. A record of protocols must be maintained and updated, detailing various components required for the study. The task can be laborious, especially for institutions with multiple scanners at different locations. A protocol website provides a better solution, but existing solutions require the website to be manually populated. This is prone to data-entry errors, in addition to intensive labor. The purpose of this project was to develop a protocol website that can be automatically populated and updated.
Methods: The website template was created from scratch using HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. The website was designed with a sidebar listing table of contents as selectable protocols (sorted by body region) and a main page featuring three tabs: “Clinical”, “Technical”, and “Technical-Additional”. “Clinical” displays indications, contrast instructions, dose statistics and other information needed besides the technical parameters (e.g. kV, mA). “Technical” links to the scan parameters from all scanners with a side-by-side layout for a comparison across machines. “Technical” displays the most frequently used protocol for each scanner in the selected category, while “Technical-Additional” displays less frequently used protocols. A python-based software populates the website using the protocol export files from the scanners.
Results: The website provides all members of the imaging team with instant access to protocols from any computer, and protocol changes can be immediately updated and propagated. The software drastically reduces the time required to enter data, especially for institutions with multiple CT scanners.
Conclusion: We successfully developed a software to automatically populate a protocol website. The software saves time and makes creating a protocol website attainable while avoiding data entry errors.
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