Artificial Intelligence streamlines radiology reporting

AI helps radiologists produce interactive reports with images

Historically, radiologists have been limited by reporting applications that aren’t compatible with imaging technology, resulting in plain text radiology reports that, while easy to share, haven’t been as easy to understand. The University of Virginia Health System has found a way around this by using artificial intelligence software, Healthcare IT News reports.

With AI reporting embedded in the system’s medical imaging technology, the health system’s radiologists now produce interactive reports with images and previously unavailable rich content, such as links and formatting options. These tools engage patients and also help clinicians digest complex information more quickly than they would reading lengthy reports, which ultimately improves the speed and clarity of communication around medical imaging findings, the publication said. 

“You know the old adage – a picture tells a thousand words,” said Cree Gaskin, associate chief medical information officer and vice-chair of informatics and operations, division director of musculoskeletal imaging. This is especially apt when the radiologist could “create a 3-D cinematic rendering of a CT scan showing fractures and add that special image directly into the report to visually sum the findings,” he added.

Study: Preschoolers at ‘golden age’ for forming lifelong healthy habits

A study from Mount Sinai Hospital found that Harlem, N.Y., preschoolers who were educated about physical and emotional wellness — including lessons on how to take care of their bodies, eat properly and understand their emotions — maintained healthier behaviors than those who didn’t undergo such instruction, the Wall Street Journal reports. 

Children between 3 and 5 are at “the golden age” for this type of learning because they’re particularly curious and latch onto information, which could influence healthy habits later in life, Valentin Fuster, Mount Sinai’s physician in chief who led the study, told the publication.

Ultimately, the training is designed to reduce the risk of children developing chronic conditions such as cardiovascular disease and diabetes, and to prevent them becoming obese as adults, while the emotional introspection should help children resist unhealthy behaviors, such as smoking, later in life, the Journal said.

Thousands of children who have participated in similar studies abroad have generally maintained healthy lifestyles and healthy weight as they age, and the initial results of the Harlem study reflect the same progress, Fuster told the publication.

Nurse’s song changes patient’s outlook

When Robert Olson, 85, was admitted to a hospice ward in Bronson Hospital in Kalamazoo, Mich., for a heart problem, his family prepared for the worst. But Olson’s health changed dramatically for the better after his nurse learned his favorite song and sang it to him, and he was discharged within just a week, CBS News reports. 

Olson’s daughter, Roberta Lytle, filmed the performance (which has gone viral). In it, nurse Brenda Buurstra croons Debby Boone’s “You Light Up My life” to Olson, who wears an oxygen mask. Olson, who could barely breathe or speak, attempts to sing along at the end of the video. 

After the song concluded, Olson perked up dramatically, and so did his condition. Within days, he was able to head home.

“Even through his little venting mask he was wearing, his eyes lit up. His whole countenance changed, and he had a big smile,” Lytle told the publication. “You could tell that song lit him up.”

Buurstra, who makes a habit of singing to her patients, told CBS that her commitment to them is characteristic of the entire hospital staff.

“I'm not the only nurse who goes above and beyond at Bronson. This is what we do every day,” she said.