Abstract: A method and system for the use of a CAD algorithm that can be used to automatically detect retained colonic fluid and the rectal tube in computed tomographic (CT) imagery of a patient's colon is disclosed. The CAD algorithm can then electronically subtract the fluid and rectal tube from the images and the modified CT imagery can then be displayed to a user, such as a radiologist. Both the original and modified CT imagery will be stored for future presentation and review. The user, including the radiologist or other medical personnel, will have the option to toggle between displaying and reviewing the modified and original imagery. After subtraction, the radiologist will be able to view the imagery containing all pertinent information regarding the colonic lumen and any suspect region within the colon. Additionally, full processing of the scan is possible even when fluid retention in the colon is greater than fifty percent in any region.

Abstract: A method and system for sharing intermediate medical image processing results among several different applications is disclosed. An application server serves as mediator between a medical image database storage, image processing applications, and a workstation display resident on a computer network. The application server polices the intermediate processing results from several different image processing applications in order for the image processing applications to share their intermediate results. By sharing the intermediate results, the application server helps to eliminate duplicate processing and inconsistent results between the image processing applications. The final image processing results are either stored on the medical image database or displayed on the workstation as needed. The image processing applications could reside on the application server or on their own separate networked computer.