Our Path to a Filmless Future

Film-based radiographs are still being used to teach in a conference format, which presents several viewing challenges amongst other problems. In the age of cloud computing, which enables the use of online server storage space, this information could be used more effectively if it were digitized. However, digitizing film-based radiographs and making them available for use in the cloud is not as easy as it seems. In order to address the issue of digitizing the film-based radiograph libraries in our radiology department, we looked at several options. The option that we chose was a consumer-grade scanner, and this decision was based on price, resolution, shades of gray, built-in transparency function, and its physical attributes. Our goal was to digitize the film-based radiograph teaching files so they could be stored in a digital file locker such as Google Picassa for organization and quick access later. These files would constantly be updated in a Google document by residents, and this document would be called the “Living Document” based on its continuous expandability. This method would allow even the smallest radiology department to benefit from the use of modern technology to gain access to valuable information stored in film-based radiographs and give every resident the opportunity to benefit from it.