A systematic approach for using DICOM structured reports in clinical processes: focus on breast cancer

Area of Science:

• Oncology
• Medical Informatics
• Health Services Research

Background:

• Current breast cancer clinical processes require adaptation to modern data processing techniques.
• Effective management of breast cancer involves diagnosis, follow-up, and treatment response evaluation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and describe a methodology for redesigning clinical processes in breast cancer care.
• To improve the clinical management of breast cancer patients through enhanced data integration and analysis.

Main Methods:

• Implementing a methodology with three core elements: case identification, report codification using standard terminologies, and linking structured reports.
• Designing nine Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine (DICOM) structured report templates (six diagnostic, three summary).
• Developing a prototype system to link lesions to their corresponding reports.

Main Results:

• Preliminary tests demonstrate the prototype's ability to correlate parameters across different reports.
• The designed DICOM structured report templates facilitate data integration.
• The methodology enables the linking and indexing of structured reports within a common system.

Conclusions:

• The proposed methodology offers a framework for improving breast cancer clinical process management.
• Interoperability between report templates is achievable, allowing for enhanced data correlation.
• Further development is needed to fully integrate this methodology into clinical practice.