What does medical visualization software mean for surgeons, interventionalists, and medical students? Here’s a closer look.
Key Takeaways:
- Surgeons, interventionalists, and other healthcare professionals often rely on MRI and CT scans to analyze patients’ anatomical structures.
- Medical visualization software is being introduced that can transform the way healthcare professionals use MRIs and CT scans.
- With medical visualization software, healthcare practitioners can produce 3D models of a patient’s anatomy.
- Medical visualization software provides anywhere, anytime access to 3D models of patients’ anatomical structures.
- The global medical imaging software market is expected to grow, due in part to the rising demand for medical visualization software.
Advances in medical imaging technology are transforming the way surgeons and other practitioners take care of their patients. They are also helping medical students gain the skills they need to thrive as soon as they graduate. But, the best in medical imaging technology may be still to come with the rise of medical visualization software.
Medical visualization software is revolutionary for a number of reasons. To understand why, let’s answer some of the biggest questions surrounding this new field:
What is medical visualization software?
Medical visualization software lets healthcare professionals produce 3D models of patients’ internal structures. In doing so, surgeons and other practitioners can go beyond MRI and CT scans to evaluate, diagnose, and treat their patients.
For example, a surgeon can use medical visualization software in combination with the Microsoft HoloLens mixed-reality headset to visualize highly detailed 3D models of structures in a patient’s body. The surgeon can view these models via HoloLens to identify any health issues or use them to explain treatment options to a patient, so he or she is well-equipped to make an informed consent decision regarding treatment.
These visual models can also be shared with peers to get more opinions about the best course of action to treat a patient. Surgeons can even utilize the models to practice a procedure without putting a patient’s health in danger.
How does medical visualization software work?
Medical visualization software empowers healthcare practitioners with the ability to quickly and easily produce 3D models of a patient’s unique, individual anatomy. To do so, the software typically requires a user to upload an MRI or CT scan that a program like Intravision XR can use to visualize the 3D model in minutes. This model is unique to the data on the scan and will represent the patient’s exact anatomy at the time.
Furthermore, medical visualization software lets healthcare professionals customize their 3D models. This empowers users to leverage segmentation, coloring, and shading to better understand what’s happening inside the patient. These models help surgeons gain the insights they need to provide patients with the best care possible.
Medical visualization software is available that does not require a lengthy or complex installation process, either. Instead, the software is typically based in the cloud. This ensures users can securely and seamlessly upload MRI and CT scans and produce 3D models based on these images.
Who can use medical visualization software?
There are more applications for medical visualization than existing imaging technologies can serve. Most 3D medical imaging today is visualized by artists and does not reflect actual scans of the patient’s current anatomy. Software that visualizes 3D images from live scans is just coming onto the market, and it could be a game-changer in many areas of medicine.
In terms of surgery, those who work in pediatrics, orthopedics, and other specialties can utilize medical visualization software to prepare for and perform procedures more efficiently than ever before. Pulmonologists and other interventionalists can utilize the software to view 3D models of patients’ anatomical structures from any angle or magnification any time they choose. Medical students can use the software in lieu of cadavers to practice on virtual reality organ models that replicate actual patient cases.
Tools are becoming available, like Intravision XR, that allow healthcare professionals to produce 3D models based on MRI and CT scans in lieu of artist renderings. These new tools can be used to produce 3D models of patients’ anatomical structures that give healthcare professionals a better understanding of the patients’ health issues.
Will the industry adopt medical visualization software?
Research indicates the global medical imaging software market is projected to expand at a compound annual growth rate of 8.15% from 2020 to 2027. It also shows that rising demand for medical visualization software could accelerate the market’s growth during this time frame.
The medical visualization software coming to the market will provide high-resolution images of patients’ actual anatomy. They will be easy to integrate into a healthcare setting and provide the flexibility to be used across a variety of applications. Many healthcare professionals are expected to adopt these platforms in the near future.
Why should healthcare professionals consider this new imaging technology?
Ultimately, medical visualization software enhances the value of MRI and CT scans, allowing healthcare practitioners to provide patients with exceptional care.
MRI and CT scans once enabled healthcare professionals to retrieve images of patients’ anatomical structures, but the value of these scans was limited due to the fact that they only provided static 2D images.
Comparatively, medical visualization software lets healthcare practitioners use 3D models of patients’ anatomical structures. The models include spatial relationships between organs and their internal structures and other insights into organ vasculature, neoplasms, and anomalies in-situ within specific structures.
These tools can also provide cost and time savings for healthcare professionals. The 3D models can be safely accessed, shared, and viewed from any location, at any time.
Learn more about medical visualization software
The push for medical visualization software in healthcare is underway. Healthcare professionals should watch the global market closely to keep pace with future industry trends and identify and implement a medical visualization software strategy that delivers long-lasting benefits.
DICOM Director has introduced Intravision XR, medical visualization software that automates the process of creating 3D models. For more information about Intravision XR, please contact us today.
