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The use of real-world data from national TB care programs has great potential to answer key research questions in TB control and is now opportune due to increasing digital data collection and storage. We summarize an expert stakeholder workshop conducted on this topic in October 2019, with perspectives from academics, national TB program officers, and data managers. We discuss challenges and opportunities in the use of TB programmatic data for research and describe digital data availability in two large, high TB burden countries, Brazil and South Africa. From this, we posit that with a standardized data collection set, improved data management, and greater collaboration, more TB programmatic data can be used for research with measurable public health impact.

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Several areas of partial picture archiving and communication systems (PACS) applications such as teleradiology, nuclear medicine, archiving modules, and systems for handling computed tomography and magnetic resonance digital data are mentioned prior to the discussion of a fully functional PACS system. Some of the present and future social implications of PACS are reviewed. Experience to date with a pilot system called MicroRSTAR at the Massachusetts General Hospital is described.

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Digital videofluorography (DVF) refers to a new computer-aided televised fluoroscopy technique that uses short (10-20 ms) intense pulses of radiation to produce a motion-free latent image, which is then transferred into digital storage. Because gastrointestinal imaging has lagged behind other body systems in the evaluation of digital acquisition, we investigated the potential utility of this technique for direct digital fluoroscopic spot filming of gastrointestinal examinations. In order to assess the level of clinical image quality achieved by this technique, we conducted an observer performance comparison study of digitally acquired and conventional analog 100 mm spot films. Sequentially acquired spot films and digital radiographs of 111 anatomic regions in 60 patients undergoing routine barium and cholangiographic examinations were compared. Evaluation was made of on-line interactive performance as well as side-by-side analysis of digital and analog hard copy images. Parameters evaluated include detection of normal and pathologic features, image contrast, image resolution, and image sharpness. Direct digital and analog spot films were of comparable diagnostic quality in all parameters studied. Added benefits of the digital mode included postprocessing to enhance detail in regions of low contrast and accommodation of a large field of view (14 inch) image intensifier format.

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Digital imaging technology, particularly reconstructed images such as computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging, has fueled the increased demand for radiologic services but has intensified storage and communications problems. Today more than 25% of radiologic examinations are digital in origin and, with progressive replacing of film images by digital images likely through the introduction of imaging plate technology, the radiology profession is undertaking the massive effort of evolving a new system where digital images will be transmitted, stored, retrieved and displayed by a multicomponent system connected by a local area network. Through this system, images will be nearly instantly accessible to anyone who needs them. A leading hypothesis is that when the volume of digital examinations reaches 50% of the whole, cost and efficiency considerations will lead to a massive conversion to the digital image management system, which will progress spontaneously. This conversion, unless planned for in today's equipment acquisitions, could lead to great economic stress in hospitals. The 50% point may be reached by the early 1990s.

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To achieve full implementation of the digital radiology department or of picture archive and communication systems, an efficient digital image archive must be constructed. This paper discusses the use of statistical-caching techniques within an image archive. In addition, the results of computer modeling will be used to demonstrate the advantages of this approach.

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Primary cultures of differentiated sheep thyroid were investigated to assess the effect of varying the media, sera, hormones and the initial cell number plated on the culture life span. Iodide uptake and follicular morphology were used as indices of differentiation. It was found that the effect of variations in the type of medium and the concentration and type of serum used was very small. The addition of all the hormones used - insulin, hydrocortisone and thyrotrophic hormone - had a synergistic effect on the iodide trapping ability of the culture system. A cell number of approximately 1 x 10(6) cells per 25 cm2 flask was found to be optimum for the development of differentiation in the cultures.

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A system for culturing sheep thyroid cells in vitro is described. The properties of the cultures may be manipulated so that they preserve in vitro the follicular architecture typical of the thyroid, or so that they undertake cellular proliferation. The cultured cells also undertake iodide metabolism. These growth and differentiation characteristics can be preserved for at least three weeks, which is sufficient time for assay of many radiobiological end-points.

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