A Skeptical Look At A (DIGITAL) Sacred Cow

Digital imaging in one form or another is being used for virtually every aspect of medical imaging. Many are predicting that the diagnostic department of the future will be entirely digital. However, upon careful consideration, many questions remain to be answered concerning the monumental quantities of digital data which must be acquired, processed, transmitted, displayed, stored, and recalled. In order to be acceptable to the clinician the digital systems of the future must be able to produce images with image quality which is at least as good as that presently available, at costs similar to those incurred in today's imaging environment, and with the same ease of use as the clinician experiences today. If future digital systems only meet these goals without providing additional significant benefits then one must wonder if digital imaging will ever be adopted as the sole means of image acquisition, display, and storage. This paper attempts to answer the question--is the total digital medical imaging department of the future a dream or a nightmare?