Jornal de Radiologia Clínica e Experimental

Big Data: The Next Era of Informatics and Data Science in Medical Imaging- A Literature Review

Elizabeth Filonenko and Euclid Seeram

Big data is an evolving topic of research in recent years and provides much promise in all fields, including medicine and radiology. The purpose of this literature review is to define big data, and discuss its relevance to medical imaging informatics. Relevant imaging informatics concepts and tools, such as data mining and various types of artificial intelligence will also be discussed. Literature surveyed showed two distinct types of articles; general review-type articles, and other articles discussing ideas expanding on themes and potential applications. Furthermore, the latter category provides very specific research examples examining problems on a range of issues. Potential applications of big data solutions will be discussed through multiple avenues, including its effect on treatment and diagnosis processes, research, education, and population study applications. Departmental efficiency, cost reduction, as well as its effect on safety in the radiology department will also be discussed. The future of big data applications was found to be very promising, however the utilisation of these solutions have a long way to go, before they find practical applications in clinical centres.