一種新型結腸鏡配備了“息肉增強觀察”(polyp-enhanced viewing, PEV)軟件，被設計用作能夠自動鑒別結腸病變的【除了放射科醫生之外的】第二位閱讀者。

配備PEV軟件的syngo結腸鏡系統，是由德國西門子醫療有限公司研制成功的。該系統允許放射科醫生對患者資料進行計算機輔助的“第二次分析”，從而增加了檢測精確性并且減少了閱讀次數。

為了優化工作流程，當放射科醫生結束初次閱讀的時候，PEV結果就已經準備好供【放射科醫生】再次復習。除了放射科醫生第一次閱讀時候標記出的所有的病變之外，PEV工具凸現出那些沒有被放射科醫生注意的可能病變，以及PEV工具沒有觀察到而放射科醫生提示的潛在病變。

當計算機X線斷層掃描結腸鏡(computed tomography colonography, CTC)逐漸被認可做為傳統結腸鏡升級換代工具的時候，以及對早期診斷疾病的要求不斷增加，放射科醫生就需要許多能夠加快工作流程的技術，例如PEV。

美國克利夫蘭診所(the Cleveland Clinic, OH, USA)腹部影像科的主任Mark Baker醫學博士說：“閱讀CTC是一種要求十分嚴格的艱苦勞動，需要注意力高度集中。閱讀疲勞是一種客觀存在的困難。考慮到美國缺乏足夠的放射科醫生來分析與日俱增的CT掃描資料，任何輔助分析CTC的幫助都將得到放射科醫生的熱烈歡迎。”

該系統優化工作流程的其它特性包括：自動測量息肉和對未不可見區域的可視化操作。“這些工具將加速診斷工作流程。手工測量息肉是一種耗時費力的工作，而我們開始治療之前需要知道息肉的大小。可靠的自動化工具使得CTC診斷更加迅速。”德國門斯特大學診所(the University Clinic, Muenster, Germany)的Johannes Wessling醫學博士如此評價說。

CT Colonography With Enhanced Polyp Viewing
 
A new colonography system with polyp-enhanced viewing (PEV) software is designed as a second-reader tool for automated identification of lesions in the colon.

The syngo colonography system with PEV, developed by Siemens Medical Solutions (Erlangen, Germany), allows the radiologist to make a computer-assisted “second pass” over the patient data, thereby attempting to increase detection accuracy and reduce reading times.

Focused on optimizing workflow efficiency, PEV results are ready for reviewing as the radiologist confirms the end of the primary read. The PEV tool then highlights potential lesions that were not tagged by the radiologist, in addition to all potential lesions marked by the radiologist during the first read, and also indicated potential lesions tagged by the radiologist that were not visualized by the PEV tool.

As computed tomography colonography (CTC) gains increasing acceptance as an alternative to traditional colonoscopy and demand rises for early detection, radiologists have a lot to gain from workflow-enhancing techniques such as PEV.

“Reading CTC is a demanding, meticulous process, requiring focused and extremely attentive concentration. Reader fatigue is a real problem. Given the fact that there are not enough radiologists to interpret the growing number of CT scans performed in the United States, any assistance in interpreting CTC will be embraced enthusiastically by radiologists,” said Mark Baker, M.D., head of abdominal imaging at the Cleveland Clinic (OH, USA).

Additional workflow enhancements to the system include automated polyp measurement and visualization of unseen regions. “These tools will really speed up may diagnostic workflow. It is time-consuming to measure polyps manually, and we need to know polyp size before recommending treatment. Reliable automated tools will make CTC diagnosis quicker,” observed Johannes Wessling, M.D., from the University Clinic, Muenster, Germany.