Estimates by WHO and other global health organizations estimate that about half to two-thirds of the world’s population lacks access to radiology imaging, impacting disease management, mortality, and non-invasive treatment monitoring. When you look at the data for individual African countries, you’ll see a large disparity among them. Striking first is the disparity between the US and the most advanced African country in healthcare, South Africa, which has only 27% of the radiology resources per million people compared with the US.

It was unfortunate that, due to the unrest in the Middle East, I had to cancel my trip to Uganda to update the PACS software, as the flight passed through the region. Hopefully, things will normalize soon, so I can resume my travel plans.

An open-source PACS system and viewer were installed at the Bwindi Community Hospital in Southern Uganda 2 ½ years ago. This project was funded by a grant from Rotary International, with medical-grade monitors donated by Double Black Imaging, software donated by Idonia, and assistance from DMIST volunteers during installation and support.  

There have been several conferences since the last newsletter: the NETZeroAICT meeting in conjunction with EUSOMII in Greece, RAD-Aid in Washington DC, and RSNA. Each conference has its own distinct audience and gives unique opportunities to learn and network. EUSOMII, which I consider the European counterpart of SIIM, was intimate; there were many opportunities to connect, learn, and hear from great speakers.

There are several options when deploying open source PACS systems. In this case, we installed a proven server and viewer, which is Windows-based, i.e., ClearCanvas. This software is very well suited to be deployed in a small clinic, such as this one, with 3 modalities doing a couple of procedures/day.

Welcome to the first DIMIST monthly newsletter. In case you are not familiar with DIMIST (Diagnostic Imaging and Medical Informatics Support Team), you can look us up at www.dimist.org.