Computer-assisted radiology 1

Abstract

Most, if not all, human knowledge is artificially bounded into areas or fields by a scientific culture and/or a social convention. Professional disciplines are therefore man-made frameworks based on shared models, concepts, and definitions. This is the ontological basis for communication and action for professionals in, eg, radiology, medical physics, surgery, or computer science. In general, new knowledge is being squeezed into these existing boundaries or frames of knowledge. Increasingly, however, and particularly in rapidly evolving knowledge areas such as information and communication technology (ICT)-induced activities (eg, computer-assisted radiology [CAR], computer-assisted surgery [CAS], bioinformatics, and radiologic informatics), this fitting process faces difficulties. Rather than allowing a simple fit into traditional fields such as mathematics, physics, engineering, informatics, radiology, or management sciences, these new areas occupy knowledge subsets of two or more of these traditional disciplines. An example of such evolving interdisciplinary developments is given in Table 1. Table 1Relationship Matrix of CAR Themes with Traditional Disciplines CAR Theme Discipline Mathematics Physics Engineering Informatics Radiology Management Science Medical Image Processing and Display • • • • • PACS • • • • • Telemedicine and E-Health • • • • Computer Aided Diagnosis • • • • • • Computed Assisted Radiation Therapy • • • • • • Computed Cardio-vascular Imaging • • • • • Computed Maxillofacial Imaging • • • • • Open table in a new tab