New eLearning Tool for Physicians and Technologists

Learning Objectives Reading diagnostic images is a skill that comes with experience - not just by studying books. The purpose is to develop a tool that makes it faster for physicians and technologists to gain experience in reading nuclear medicine images.

Method: eScan Academy is based on: 1) A database of diagnostic images. Each image is carefully selected, classified and labelled with teaching points by senior specialists. The database covers the following areas: myocardial perfusion scans, bone scans, lung scans, thyroid scans, DaT scans, and DMSA scans. The database contains more than 1000 patient cases, and new cases/scan types are being included (e.g. PET/CT images). 2) A user interface where the users can practice on the patient cases and get instant feedback on the interpretations. The users can also study the hundreds of teaching points explaining the different findings in the images, or search for specific findings to learn how similar findings can appear differently in multiple patients. 3) eScan Academy is accessible online. By using a standard browser planar, SPECT and gated images can be displayed and manipulated in a similar way as when using a nuclear medicine workstation. This allows the users to practice from any computer without software installation. Results: eScan Academy was launched in Q4 2014, and 130 users have signed up (majority being physicians in specialist training). The users are typically using the tool to optimize their training by adjusting their sessions according to level of expertise, particular findings (selecting only patient cases with specific findings), or simply by using the tool to gain valuable experience fast. The users read on average 50 scans during a 60 minutes training session. Conclusion: eLearning tools can be a valuable supplement for physicians and technologists in their training in reading nuclear medicine images. Moreover, by making the tool accessible via the Internet, it is possible for the users to comment or post questions regarding specific cases and quickly receive feedback from more senior nuclear medicine specialists.