Medical Imaging Informatics Comprehensive Exam Notes

Medical Data

Verified information about a person’s health status and medical treatment, recorded on paper or digitally and stored in clinics or hospitals.

Medical Imaging Informatics

Sub-field of medical informatics focused on image generation, processing, management, transfer, storage, distribution, display, perception, privacy, and security.

Electronic Health Record (EHR)

Digital database that serves as the authoritative source for patient demographics and medical records.

Ontology (In Informatics)

A structured collection of terms and relationships used to represent knowledge in a specific domain, facilitating common vocabulary and data exchange.

SNOMED CT

Systematized Nomenclature of Medicine—Clinical Terms; a multilingual, standardized clinical vocabulary enabling semantic interoperability.

ICD-10

International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, 10th Revision; WHO-sponsored coding system for diseases and health conditions.

ICD-10-CM

Clinical Modification of ICD-10 used in the U.S. for diagnoses and reimbursement coding.

ICD-10-PCS

Procedure Coding System of ICD-10 for inpatient procedures in U.S. hospitals.

CPT (Current Procedural Terminology)

AMA-published code set describing diagnostic, laboratory, radiology, and surgical procedures for billing.

CPT Category I

Largest CPT section containing common, established procedure codes.

CPT Category II

CPT codes used for performance tracking and quality management.

CPT Category III

CPT codes for emerging and experimental procedures.

RadLex

Radiology-specific lexicon created by Radiologic Society of North America (RSNA) to standardize terms and procedure names in radiology.

RadLex Playbook

Catalog that assigns RPID identifiers to standardized radiology study names for workflow optimization.

LOINC

Logical Observation Identifiers Names and Codes; standard for laboratory and clinical measurements across medical domains.

ANSI

American National Standards Institute; coordinates U.S. standards development and accredits SDOs.

Standards Development Organization (SDO)

Body responsible for creating and maintaining technical standards (e.g., HL7, NEMA).

NEMA

National Electrical Manufacturers Association; co-sponsors DICOM via MITA division.

Health Level 7 (HL7)

Set of international standards for exchange of electronic health information via messages and documents.

Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine (DICOM)

Standard protocols for storing and exchanging medical images and related data.

Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF)

Organization that develops and promotes internet standards and protocols.

HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP)

Foundation of data communication for the World Wide Web.

HyperText Markup Language (HTML)

Standard markup language for web documents.

Uniform Resource Locator (URL)

Syntax specifying the address of resources on the internet.

Network Time Protocol (NTP)

Synchronizes clocks across computer systems.

Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP)

Standard for sending email.

Internet Message Access Protocol (IMAP)

Retrieves email from a server.

Multipurpose Internet Message Extensions (MIME)

Allows email to include non-text content such as medical images.

Transport Layer Security (TLS)

Cryptographic protocol for securing internet communications.

Secure Sockets Layer (SSL)

Predecessor to TLS for encrypted network traffic.

Syslog Protocol

Protocol for transmitting event notification and audit trail messages.

Extensible Markup Language (XML)

Open standard for encoding and exchanging structured data.

HL7 ORU Message

Message type used to transmit clinical results.

HL7 ORM Message

Message type used to place imaging or lab orders.

HL7 ADT Message

Admission, Discharge, Transfer message conveying patient registration events.

HL7 OBR Segment

Segment within HL7 messages that describes observation requests.

HL7 OBX Segment

Segment carrying actual observation/result values in HL7 messages.

Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources (FHIR)

Modern HL7 standard using RESTful APIs with JSON or XML.

Computer Hardware

Physical components of a computer such as motherboard, CPU, GPU, RAM, storage, and peripherals.

Motherboard

Main circuit board connecting CPU, memory, and expansion cards inside a computer.

Central Processing Unit (CPU)

Executes instructions of computer programs.

Graphics Processing Unit (GPU)

Specialized processor for image rendering and parallel computations.

Random Access Memory (RAM)

Volatile memory for temporary data storage during processing.

Local Area Network (LAN)

Connects computers within a limited area like a department or building.

Wide Area Network (WAN)

Connects computers over large geographic distances, often linking multiple LANs.

Server

Computer that provides services (file, print, database, web, etc.) to clients on a network.

Virtual Machine (VM)

Software-based emulation of a physical computer running an operating system.

Cloud Server

Virtual server hosted on a cloud computing platform and accessed via the internet.

Thick Client

Client computer that performs most processing locally; server mainly stores data.

Thin Client

Client relying on the server for most processing; client mainly displays results.

Cloud Computing

Use of remote servers on the internet to store, manage, and process data instead of local servers.

Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP)

Open standard for accessing directory information services.

Active Directory

Microsoft directory service implementing LDAP and Kerberos for authentication and authorization.

IoT (Internet of Things)

Network of physical objects with unique identifiers that collect and exchange data without human interaction.

Picture Archiving and Communication System (PACS)

Integrated system for storing, transferring, and displaying medical images.

PACS Archive

Long-term storage of medical images, typically in DICOM format, on disks or tapes.

Vendor-Neutral Archive (VNA)

Enterprise repository that stores DICOM and non-DICOM data from multiple imaging systems.

Image Display Workstation

Computer with high-resolution monitors used by radiologists to interpret medical images.

Navigation Display

Consumer-grade monitor used alongside diagnostic monitors for RIS, worklists, and patient information.

Image Distribution

Transfer of images between imaging devices, PACS, workstations, and other information systems over a network.

Network Segmentation

Design strategy placing frequently communicating devices on separate network segments to reduce congestion.

Bandwidth

Data transfer capacity of a network connection, measured in bits per second.

Image Compression

Technique reducing the data size of images to save storage and network bandwidth.

Lossless Compression

Reversible compression where decompressed image is identical to the original (e.g., 2-5:1 ratios).

Lossy Compression

Irreversible compression sacrificing some information for higher ratios (e.g., 15-30:1).

Joint Photographic Experts Group (JPEG)

Standard lossy compression scheme for digital images.

Reversible Compression Ratio

Typical compression factor of 2-5:1 achieved without data loss.

Irreversible Compression Ratio

Higher compression factor (often 15:1 or more) achieved with acceptable image quality degradation.

File Server

Server providing centralized disk storage accessible by network clients.

Print Server

Server managing print jobs across a network.

Application Server

Server that hosts and runs specific applications for client use.

Database Server

Server dedicated to database storage and processing.

Web Server

Server that delivers web pages to clients via HTTP/HTTPS.

Email Server

Server that sends, receives, and stores email messages (SMTP/IMAP).

Load Balancing (PACS)

Distribution of processing tasks across multiple servers to optimize performance.

Graphics Processor Unit (GPU) Farm

Server setup with multiple GPUs for computational tasks like volume rendering.

Volume Rendering

3D visualization technique transforming CT or MRI data into volumetric images.

Radiology Workflow

End-to-end process from imaging order, acquisition, interpretation, reporting, to physician action.

Burst Traffic

Short periods of high network usage interspersed with lower activity.

Ontological Interoperability

Ability of different systems to understand exchanged data through shared vocabularies like SNOMED CT.

Semantic Interoperability

Exchange of data with unambiguous, shared meaning across systems.

Interoperability (Technical)

Capability of different IT systems to communicate and exchange data accurately and effectively.

Medical Imaging & Technology Alliance (MITA)

NEMA division managing the DICOM standard.

Radiology Information System (RIS)

Manages radiology scheduling, tracking, and reporting.

Electronic Medical Record (EMR)

Digitized patient chart often contained within an EHR.

HL7 Version 2

Widely used, flexible messaging standard for healthcare data exchange developed in the 1980s.

HL7 Version 3

Model-driven HL7 standard with more formal structure than V2.

HL7 CDA (Clinical Document Architecture)

HL7 standard defining structure of clinical documents.

HL7 Interface

Custom configuration enabling two systems to exchange HL7 messages.

Security Patch (IoT)

Software update addressing vulnerabilities in internet-connected medical devices.

Cybersecurity (Imaging)

Protection of imaging systems and networks against unauthorized access and data breaches.

Quality Assurance (Imaging IT)

Evaluation processes ensuring imaging information systems meet performance and safety standards.

Ontological Harmonization

Effort to align different vocabularies (e.g., LOINC with RadLex) for unified data description.