Imaging informatics

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Imaging informatics, also known as radiology informatics or medical imaging informatics, is a subspecialty of biomedical informatics that aims to improve the efficiency, accuracy, usability and reliability of medical imaging services within the healthcare enterprise.^[1] It is devoted to the study of how information about and contained within medical images is retrieved, analyzed, enhanced, and exchanged throughout the medical enterprise.

As radiology is an inherently data-intensive and technology-driven specialty, those in this branch of medicine have become leaders in Imaging Informatics. However, with the proliferation of digitized images across the practice of medicine to include fields such as cardiology, ophthalmology, dermatology, surgery, gastroenterology, obstetrics, gynecology and pathology, the advances in Imaging Informatics are also being tested and applied in other areas of medicine. Various industry players and vendors involved with medical imaging, along with IT experts and other biomedical informatics professionals, are contributing and getting involved in this expanding field.

Imaging informatics exists at the intersection of several broad fields:

• biological science – includes bench sciences such as biochemistry, microbiology, physiology and genetics
• clinical services – includes the practice of medicine, bedside research, including outcomes and cost-effectiveness studies, and public health policy
• information science – deals with the acquisition, retrieval, cataloging, and archiving of information
• medical physics / biomedical engineering – entails the use of equipment and technology for a medical purpose
• cognitive science – studying human computer interactions, usability, and information visualization
• computer science – studying the use of computer algorithms for applications such as computer assisted diagnosis and computer vision

Due to the diversity of the industry players and broad professional fields involved with Imaging Informatics, there grew a demand for new standards and protocols. These include DICOM (Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine), Health Level 7 (HL7), International Organization for Standardization (ISO), and Artificial Intelligence protocols.

Current research surrounding Imaging Informatics has a focus on Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML). These new technologies are being used to develop automation methods, disease classification, advanced visualization techniques, and improvements in diagnostic accuracy. However, AI and ML integration faces several challenges with data management and security.