[Presentation of an urologic laser video-disc]

The authors participated in the development of the first medical laser video-disc of the National Education department, together with 80 other French teams. Among the 40,000 images recorded in this version, of the 100,000 possible, 1,500 are of direct application to urology, which is already considerable and very largely sufficient for the institution of a good methodology of use of this new data support. The laser video-disc is produced from simple colour slides or professional video recordings of very high quality. Images are transcribed onto a stock reel, photographed to harmonize quality and then transferred to a master disc allowing pressing of numerous laser discs in a not too costly manner. The image in these discs remains analogic in contrast to digital CD ROM discs. The images can be read singly, with rapid access, or in sequence. Recording of comments on images is initially by computer with a very detailed, normalized protocol. This allows subsequent practical use of the Philips laservision video-disc with a computer and a high performance, if possible, expert system program. Creation of this basic model of multimedia medical data of large capacity requires, the development of original methodologies of use. Thousands of images are proposed and thousands of good practical uses should be proposed by us, for example: pedagogic for different audiences, in therapy, as an aid to diagnosis, to assist recording of medical images, in order to ensure effective cost/benefit ratios for the media. The innovation of a medical thesaurus specialized in imaging technics is essential to ensure maximum use of this disc, and the authors are currently developing means for insertion of the disc in the daily life of a university hospital.