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An article was submitted for the 5th International Information and Telecommunication Technologies Symposium (I2TS 2006) in Brazil 2006, and was accepted as poster.

The condensed two-page poster abstract: A proposal of a digital cephalogram standard using DICOM Abstract

The proposed article: A proposal of a digital cephalogram standard using DICOM

The full poster (more than 20MB in size): A proposal of a digital cephalogram standard using DICOM Full Size Poster

A proposal of a digital cephalogram standard in DICOM

This page contains the original masters thesis submitted and approved at the Universidade de Brasília, department of electrical engineering, networking laboratory for the obtainment of a degree in telecommunications.

Download

Below you can find a link to both versions, and to the PDF presentation, which was very successfully held on August 24th, 2006 in Brasília at the Universidade de Brasília (UnB).

• UMA PROPOSTA DE UM PADRÃO PARA SOFTWARE ORTODONTICOS (pt)


• UMA PROPOSTA DE UM PADRÃO PARA SOFTWARE ORTODONTICOS (en)


• Slideshow Presentation of Master's Thesis

Abstract



As of today the exchange of orthodontic clinical information between different software systems is a challenge: there is no standard written or
developed specifically for orthodontics. The widespread use of medical informatics systems has caused this problem to require immediate attention. This work proposes a detailed methodology on how to proceed to create an orthodontic electronic patient record standard by integrating three well established and developed medical informatics standard developing organizations: HL7, DICOM and the ADA Standards Developing Committee (SCDI). It then limits its scope to digital cephalograms, a fundamental part of the orthodontic clinical record, by proposing a standard for digital cephalogram, and a JAVA implementation of it. This work offers a practical contribution to the development of an orthodontic informatics standard, hence addressing directly orthodontic software interoperability.

Structure

The document addresses directly the issue of solving incompatibilities between orthodontic software through the development of a software standard. The thesis is divided in 5 chapters and appendix:

Introduction: Explanation of the problems, and the reason of the work.

Orthodontics: A quick review of orthodontics and its patient record elements.

Literature review: A review of HL7, DICOM and ADA SCDI, both as an organization and as standards.

Scientific contributions: A proposal for the process required for the development of an orthodontic electronic patient record standard, a proposal for a DICOM digital cephalogram standard, and a simple JAVA implementation of the proposed standard.

Conclusions

Appendix: More details on ADA SCDI Specification 1000 by Mark Diehl, mathematical explanations and my contribution in the LaTeX world (document typesetter).
The document was originally written in English and translated into Portuguese by Emerson Ribeiro. Further refinement was then performed to conform with Brazilian writing style. Please note that the English version was written as a draft for the Portuguese version, which is therefore more organic, complete and better written.

 

Abstract

Today orthodontists need not burden their work load with tasks such as figuring out how to send patient information to colleagues or how two share the same patient record across different software programs. As a long term attempt to alleviate these tasks, we are working on developing a standard for the orthodontic electronic patient record to enable a seamless interchange of patient data between software programs. This article describes a practical proposal that integrates two existing standards, HL7 and DICOM, to create a standard for the orthodontic electronic patient record.

Solving incompatibilities between Orthodontic Electronic Patient Records

After having attended the HL7 Tutorial Sessions, it became clear that the document could have been revised. New revision of HL7 paper available here:

The Applicability of HL7 to Orthodontics rev1

We attended introductory and advanced tutorial session and established contacts in order to inestigate the possibility of creating a new HL7 orthodontic domain.

Taking a frist look at HL7: is it adequate to represent orthodontic electronic data?


The Applicability of HL7 to Orthodontics

See also:

Application of XML in orthodontic computerized patient records system based on HL7--《Chongqing Medicine》2008年05期

We have officially started the effort of defining an informatics standard for orthodontics, and have deadlines! We decided to divulge the news through a scientific posterboard at the biggest orthodontic convention in the world. Software vendors, doctors or anyone interested should know about this project.

Our posterboard got accept before we started to collaborate with the American Dental Association (ADA) Standards Committee for Dental Informatics (SCDI). What this means is that the course of the prject changed quite a bit from when we wrote the initial abstract for the poster until when it was up on display. The title of the project, for instance, probably would have never been PANIO had I been introduced to the ADA SCDI earlier. But we figured PANIO actually sounded pleasing to the ear in all languages, and that we should therefore take advantage of this opportunity and keep the name.

The scientific poster occupies the full 8'x4' provided tackboard. It provides the viewer with a broad perspective of what a software standard is and why it is needed in the field of orthodontics. At it's center there is a description of the ADA SCDI and DICOM structures. This part was influenced by the newly established collaboration with them.

In addition, PANIO: The First Orthodontic Standard (handout) was provided for the more interested. All four sides of the handout were printed on a single Letter size booklet, and provided the reader with a little extra information such as references, more names on collaborators and more detail on the individual working groups.

Abstract

Software standards are becoming increasingly popular in the medical
field, reducing the risk of patient data loss and allowing for greater
patient data interchange. Many medical fields have either already
developed or are currently developing standards like DICOM and ADA
SCDI. Yet there still exists no software standard in the orthodontic
field. Our goal is to develop a public orthodontics software standard,
approved by clinicans, developers and accredited instututions
worldwide. In collaboration with: ADA and DICOM.

Plan: 1) extend DICOM to accommodate all orthodontics data needs. 2)
Include the instructions of the extended DICOM standard in an ADA
Techincal Report; 3) prove the functionality of the standard by writing
a program that directly implements it. The final products (all standard
definitions and the implemented software) are meant to be pucliblicly
available free of charge to facilitate their distribution. We hope our
presentation will stimulate interest among individuals and institutions
to joins us in this project.

A meeting for WG 11.6 is held in San Francisco, CA just before the AAO conference. Deadlines were set for July 2005

PANIO pariticipates to its first ADA SCDI WG11.6 meeting in Atlanta, GA.

William Harrell published a short introduction to standards and why the are so important in orthodontics in the AJODO.

ADA initiates development of orthodontic informatics standards

[caption id="" align="alignright" width="300"] Deutsch: Firmenlogo der 3M Unitek (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Align Technology, 3M Unitek and others get together and write a first project proposal to encourage the ADA SCDI to start a new working group.

Plan for Digital Orthodontics Standards Proposal to ADA SCDI rev 2

This is our first proposal for Project PANIO. Back in July 2004, when this document was last revised, we had a slightly different goal in mind, but the idea is the same.

The Panio Orthodontic Software Definition