Presidents’ Column 11/23/2025

Written By herman oosterwijk

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. In short, it is a team of mostly volunteers delivering diagnostic imaging to underserved areas. We are primarily funded by grants, allowing us to deploy X-ray and other diagnostic devices, mainly using open source software to manage and exchange the images. Installing is done by a cadre of volunteers, mostly remotely and in some cases on-site. We have successfully installed X-ray and open source systems in several African countries over the past couple of years. We believe that the combination of open-source software together with low-cost, robust, and easy-to-use imaging equipment is the best solution to tackle the lack of imaging, especially in rural areas, which is estimated to be lacking in more than two-thirds of the world. There is no question that the deployment of AI will be a significant contributing factor to bridging the gap between LMIC countries with minimal resources and the rest of the world. This newsletter is a mechanism to share our vision and show some of our case studies where we successfully deployed these systems. Enclosed, you’ll find a typical use case of an imaging solution for a small clinic. Please let me know what you think and if you are willing to volunteer and/or support this great cause.

Sincerely,

Herman Oosterwijk

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Case Study: Imaging and Clearcanvas PACS at Zinga Children’s Hospital Tanzania