Chapter 03 - Acquisition of Medical Image Data

Abstract

Medical image data are acquired for different purposes, such as diagnosis, therapy planning, intraoperative navigation, and postoperative monitoring. The most important and widespread use of medical image data is for diagnostics. The acquisition of medical image data is usually not the first step in a diagnostic process; exceptions are urgent cases or severe accidents with unconscious patients. Simple diagnostic procedures such as palpation, auscultation with a stethoscope, and blood pressure measurements are carried out. As a further building block of diagnosis, clinical tests are performed in which liquids of the body, such as blood and urine, are analyzed. Many diagnostic procedures can be completed with these examinations. The chapter also discusses medical image data acquired primarily when the previously described diagnostic steps raised the suspicion for a severe disease, such as a malignancy or heart disease. From a computer science perspective, this situation is the motivation for developing electronic patient records and hospital information systems, which contain this information and share it among all doctors involved in the diagnosis and treatment of the patient.