A distributed micro-dose CT project was launched in Northwest China’s Shaanxi province on May 31. Being jointly conducted by Xu Zongben's team at Xi'an Jiaotong University (XJTU), the First Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University, and Huawei Technologies Co Ltd, it is the first joint research project to be inaugurated by the National Medical Center of Shaanxi Province.

The project will use cloud computing, artificial intelligence, 5G communication and other technologies in the field of social science.

Using Xu’s team’s cloud CT center technology, the project applies a model of separated scanning and imaging. The CT terminal is only responsible for X-ray scanning, and the collected data is transmitted to the cloud via a 5G network. Imaging and intelligent image reading is then completed using the cloud’s powerful computing cluster automatic scheduling algorithm.

An imaging center can be connected to more than 1,000 CT scanning terminals, which can meet the application scale of hospitals and medical examination institutions of different levels in a province.

To date, the cloud CT center technology has been applied and verified in the Second Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University (Xibei Hospital) and Zhashui County Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine in Shaanxi Province. Compared with conventional CT 1/5 dose imaging, 1/10 dose imaging has achieved major breakthroughs.

“We use calculations to change the dose, and let the scanning system ‘go to the rural areas’ and centralize the imaging system by changing the algorithm,” said Xu. “This not only greatly reduces the cost of high-end medical equipment such as CT, and solves the problem of high radiation, but also realizes data analysis and interpretation based on artificial intelligence, so that the development of science and technology can truly benefit ordinary people.” 

It is thought that with the implementation of this project, county-level hospitals in many places in Shaanxi will join clinical application trials, and more people in remote areas will enjoy better medical imaging resources.

The launch of the distributed micro-dose CT project marks the entry of cloud CT center technology into a large-scale demonstration application stage.

The project’s joint research units will focus on the application of this technology, carry out more extensive clinical trials, and further develop a complete set of distributed micro-dose CT technologies such as remote imaging, storage, and AI reading.

The project will promote the formation of a new diagnosis and treatment mechanism including micro-dose scanning, remote imaging and AI reading in hospitals at grassroots level, and expert-assisted reading in third-grade class-A level comprehensive hospitals, and provide technical support for the implementation of the hierarchical diagnosis and treatment model.

The original article was published on Page 4 of Shaanxi Daily on June 1, 2021.

Link to this article: http://esb.sxdaily.com.cn/pc/content/202106/01/content_757146.html