Image processing for decision support

As one´s capacity to obtain information about the human body in digital form extends, and the computer processing of images is used to generate still more data, the question of how best to make use of all the available information, to improve medical decision-making, becomes increasingly urgent. One approach is to employ images, image-processing and other computerised resources, within a decision aid for radiologists. This paper describes a system to assist in the use of abdominal CT scans in the management of neuroblastoma. The design is based on an abstract model of decision-making which is used to organise the selection and presentation of information. The use of this model represents a generic approach to the design of such aids, an approach which has already been employed to develop a system for mammography. In the system described here the model is used to combine symbolic information with measurements obtained from image-processing