Slashdot Mirror
Film to X-rays?
erikred_at_csua asks: "A friend has his film X-rays on loan from the lab but needs to transfer them to digital format so he can take them for a second opinion. What's a reliable (and inexpensive) method of doing this without sacrificing image quality (and thereby rendering the exercise worthless)? Would the old lamp and scanner trick work here, or would there be too many flaws to make it worthwhile? Where could one find a list of places that would do this on the cheap? Since this is to document the progress of arthritis in his back, the level of detail must remain high."
If they are his xrays, they should be part of his medical record, which means he owns them. You can keep them as long as you like (they are signed out to you right? dont get some poor clerk in trouble), or return them and your other doc can request them.
At least, thats the way it worked in the radiology dept. I worked in for a while about 10 years ago.
Don't blame me, I voted for Kodos
Why the hell can't he just talk to his primary doctor, and ask him how medical professionals share x-rays with each other?
What kind of fucking moron with absolutely no radiology experience whatsoever thinks he can just scan a fucking x-ray and get something acceptable to a radiologist?
I must take a pill to keep me alive, but I don't like paying the $15 copay every month. Could someone on /. tell me how to syntheize it at home?
I'm willing to exchange my plans for making an MRI out of iPod earplugs.
Conformity is the jailer of freedom and enemy of growth. -JFK
I would strongly recommend *not* screwing around with any homebrew methods when his health depends on it.
What I'm listening to now on Pandora...
How do I remove the engine from my car?
As I type this, my mechanic is replacing the brakes on my car. He said he could change the oil at the same time, but it would cost an extra $25. I called my friend bob, and he said that he could change my oil for only $10!!!
So, as long as the car is up on the lift anyhow, I think I'll just remove the engine from the car and take it to my friend bob's house, so he can change the oil for me. Then, I'll bring the engine back to the shop and re-install it in the car. After all, there's only one engine, so I should be able to get the engine removed and re-installed much faster than my mechanic can replace four brakes.
I once compiled my own linux kernel, so I figure engine removal should be easy to do. However, I'm hoping someone can point me at a good howto guide...
Most radiology practices have been moving to digital imaging, and have access to scanners that will convert your X-rays into a DICOM image. There are tools out there for converting DICOM to JPEG. And yes these are diagnostic-quality images. I've set up some facilities that don't even go to film anymore unless the patient asks specifically for a film copy. All diagnosis is done on screen.
There are still some stone age practitioners who refuse to move into the digital age. Before getting radiology work done, you might call around to see if the practice is on a "PACS" system. And furthermore, will they give you the images in DICOM format?
One of the hospitals I set up sent every patient home with a CD-R that had a royalty-free DICOM image viewer and the full study of their X-Rays, CT scan, MRI, etc. This way they could pop the CD into a Windows computer and see everything the doctor sees (sort of... some of the advanced image manipulation isn't there) and take the CD to their primary care practitioner for followup.
It's sad that patients have to jump through hoops to get their medical records. In contrast, when I needed some tests done recently, I drove down to Mexico and got X-rays and a CT scan for about half what I would have paid in the U.S. (and I'm talking cash over the barrel, no insurance). The doctor handed me the X-rays in a folder - I still have them. And the CT scan results were burned to a CD with a handy little viewer app, so I can cruise through my abdominal cavity a la "Fantastic Voyage" whenever I please. Sure beats pleading with the lab to see the results that you PAID for.
Soylent Green is peoplicious!
If you need high quality images from a nageitve, use a scanner that's equipped to handle negatives. Many scanners do this. Cheap ones will only scan small sections of negatives, but you can stitch them together later.
You might find that Kinkos or a local print shop has the capability to copy the film to CD as well. Look around.
I don't think you're going to be able to do this job on the cheap and well at the same time.
-Adam
X-Ray scanners cost in excess of $10,000 for usage in simple day surgery situations. There is a good reason why they cost that much. Domestic scanners don't even come close to the resolution needed by radiologists. When they look at a minute dot on an X-Ray which to you and me looks the same as any other minute dot, they know the difference. The FDA makes a distinction between images which can be used for diagnostic purposes and images which can't.
Task Mangler
Check his website. He really does have plans for for making an MRI out of iPod earplugs. And it works too! How else do you think he found out that he had back pain?
I got one of my wife's CT for $3.50 from the hospital radiology department. I just asked for a DICOM-format dump of the CT series (OK, so I used to work in radiology software - they don't get many requests but are happy to help). Open source software is readily available to view it (I either used Madena X or OsiriX at the time).
My God, it's Full of Source!
OUTSIDE_IP=$(dig +short my.ip @outsideip.net)
Yes the "lamp and scanner trick" works. Just scan the original to digital and p-shop on a tumor shadow in the shape of a crying Jesus. Have OPhoto print the result to a large transparency, and sell it on EBay to pay for your operation.
That was easy. Go ahead and ask me another one.
However, the grey areas will become much darker than intended since the light has to pass twice through the film. If the difference between white and black is a factor 500 in light intensity, then you will need a scanner that can handle a dynamic range of 500*500=25,000. There are no scanners that can do that under practical circumstances. That is why scanners for negatives have a separate light source that illuminates the negatives from behind.
Avantslash: low-bandwidth mobile slashdot.
Since my wife the radiologist has the day off today, I swiveled my chair around and asked her. So here's a bullet list of relevant points combining my editorializing with her systems knowledge:
-Most medical stuff is regulated at a state level (in the US, anyway), not at a federal level, so exercise caution when saying 'it's the law'.
-Radiology films are 11"x17", so you would need a big (and expensive - my wife has a couple thousand old films from her research we'd like to digitize, so I've shopped) scanner to do this.
-Contrary to popular belief, you do not own your medical records; the physician who generated them does. You do, however, have the right to access them and the request a copy. You may be required to pay a fee for the copy, but it's usually something reasonable (e.g. $10). I realize this may raise a ruckus - this isn't flame bait or an ethical statement, it's a statement about the way it is. Deal with it.
-You may request a copy of your films to keep, rather than borrow. Again, there may be a fee.
-Many practices now use PACS systems to handle the images, and can burn a CD of the data that can be read by a radiologist; many even come with the reading software on the CD. As another poster pointed out, the image data will in all likelihood conform to the DICOM standard http://www.sph.sc.edu/comd/rorden/dicom.html , and can be shared with your other physicians readily. Because the CD systems are relatively new, many hospitals and imaging centers haven't yet implemented a policy of how to charge for them - so you may be able to get it for free. Or not.
-So, in a nutshell: If you are, for whatever reason, not willing to ask your physician to share the information (which is the best route - physicians are our partners in care, not our adversaries), then request a copy that you own; don't borrow. Present this data to the physician you are seeking a second opinion from. Good luck, and I hope he can treat the arthritis!