[Computerized image analysis applied to urology research]

Diagnosis with the aid of imaging techniques in urology had developed dramatically over the last few years as a result of using state-of-the-art technology that has added digital angiology to the last generation apparatus for ultrasound. Computerized axial tomography and nuclear magnetic resonance allow very high rates of diagnostic possibilities that only a decade ago were not extended to routine use. Each of these examination procedures has its own limits of sensitivity and specificity which vary as a function of the pathoanatomical characteristics depending on the condition to be explored, although none reaches yet absolute values. With ultrasound, CAT and NMR, identification of the various diseases rely on the analysis of densities although with a significant degree of the examiner's subjectivity in the diagnostic judgement. The logic evolution of these techniques is to eliminate such subjective component and translate the features which characterize each disease in quantifiable parameters, a challenge made feasible by computerized analysis. Thanks to technological advances in the field of microcomputers and the decreased cost of the equipment, currently it is possible for any clinical investigator with average resources to use the most sophisticated imaging analysis techniques for the post-processing of the images obtained, opening in the scope of practical investigation a pathway that just a few years ago was exclusive to only certain organizations due to the high cost involved.