The Use of a Digital Blink Comparator in Diagnostic Imaging
The use of a digital blink comparator results in significant improvement in the ability of a radiologist to detect lesions when comparing new and prior medical images such as CT and MRI studies.
Background
The dwarf planet Pluto was discovered in 1930 by comparing an old telescopic photograph of the night sky with a more recent image. As objects orbit the Sun, they appear to change position relative to the “fixed” stars in the background. Because of the subtlety of Pluto’s positional change, the dwarf planet could not be detected until an analog device called a “blink comparator” was used to rapidly alternate one image in front of another.
Using PACS, it is now possible to digitally apply this same search technique to radiological practice whereby
rapidly alternating older and newer medical studies such as CT or MRI slices can be compared in such a way that any changes between the two images will easily and immediately stand out to the radiologist.