Concept of gaps helps bridge image retrieval divide

February 19, 2008 Concept of gaps helps bridge image retrieval divide Douglas Page -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Promising new technologies such as content-based image retrieval can enrich medical informatics. Yet this technology is not well established in PACS, in spite of the advantages. The cause for this lag is usually attributed to its inability to bridge the divide between low-level computational pixel analysis and high-level human cognitive capabilities. A new study from Germany could help narrow that gap. Researchers at the Aachen University of Technology propose a nomenclature and classification scheme for analysis and assessment of medical CBIR systems (J Digit Imaging 2008 Feb. 2 [Epub ahead of print]). "CBIR has come a long way, yet very few systems make it to the forefront of daily clinical, research, and educational use," said Thomas M. Deserno, Ph.D., of the department of medical informatics at Aachen. CBIR enables image access by image pattern rather than by alphanumeric-based indices. Deserno attempted to address the core features and required functionality of medical CBIR systematically, using the concept of gaps as a unifying idea to highlight potential shortcomings in CBIR systems. Since an evaluation of all systems is not practical, an ontology of gaps provides categories and classes of systems, he said.

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