Computed Tomography Orientation Detection System

Abstract

The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) reported that 450 patients in the last 10 years have had “wrong site surgery”, a surgery that occurs at the wrong location in or on the body. A prime source of this error is due to incorrect marking of the left and right side of the body on the computed tomography (CT) scan image. The current CT scan process at the University of Michigan Health System (UMHS) requires that only one person input patient orientation and past precedent shows this system is not reliable enough. The ultimate goal of this project is to develop a system that is highly reliable and will ensure that the patient orientation (left, right, anterior and posterior) is properly marked on the CT scan.