Simplifying Medical Imaging with FlexView™

This is the first in a series of posts about FlexView, Radical Imaging’s Viewer-as-a-Service

In the early days of medical imaging, all of the tech went into big, complex machines that spat out translucent film to be viewed on a light box and annotated by a radiologist with a grease pencil. Then in the 80’s and 90’s, databases, networks, and desktop computers enabled PACS and radiology workstations which liberated radiology from film libraries and dark reading rooms. From there, high-speed internet gave birth to teleradiology. 

We are at the next inflection point in the evolution of medical imaging fueled by recent advances in data science and cloud computing. This is proving to be an especially dynamic period of change because these enabling technologies are already creating an explosion of ideas and new ways of connecting users to innovative tools, data, and each other. 

For the past eight years, we have had the good fortune to work with Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) Department of Radiology on co-creating and expanding Open Health Imaging Foundation (OHIF). It has become a bridge to new ideas and makes medical imaging more accessible.

We love open-source and remain as committed as ever to actively participating in OHIF’s evolution as well as serving its community. Yet, we have come to realize that there are some needs that only a commercial solution can address, which is why we are creating FlexView. It will come in two versions: FlexView, and FlexView Diagnostic. There are three main needs FlexView is intended to address:

FlexView Will Be a No Code Solution

Not everyone is prepared to deal with a repository of code in GitHub. Having access to source code can be comforting if you have a software team that can work with it, and an IT team that can stand it up, manage it, and keep it running smoothly. FlexView is for users who want an OHIF-like viewer they can just use.

FlexView Will Support Diagnostic Use

Companies building systems that include a diagnostic viewer will either need to successfully navigate a regulatory validation process or use software that already has. Radical Imaging is submitting an application to the FDA for 510(k) premarket notification for FlexView so you don’t have to! Once approved, you can use FlexView Diagnostic for diagnostic interpretation. There will also be a non-diagnostic version of FlexView that will be available sooner.

FlexView Will Allow You to Focus on Your Platform’s Core Value

The viewer is an important part of any medical imaging workflow; it’s the part that users touch. But it’s also a very complex component; getting it right takes deep knowledge in more than one area. Is the viewer component really your core value, or is it a distraction from the actual problem you are trying to solve for your customers? FlexView is ready to integrate into any system that needs to present medical images to users for them to interact with, and it can be customized to fit your workflow, allowing you to focus on what you do best.

What Is FlexView?

FlexView is a cloud-based universal medical imaging viewer that can load any type of image fast (even from the cloud), fit into any workflow, and be used on any computer. It’s simple enough to  enable anyone, regardless of their level of technical or medical knowledge, to instantly visualize DICOM and non-DICOM images from anywhere without installing any software and without up-front investment or an IT department. FlexView is: 

FlexView can solve some common challenges:

Making a custom viewer is a huge up-front investment of time and money. FlexView can get you to market faster, letting you focus on perfecting your unique product or service. 

Contact us for more information about licensing FlexView or joining our partner program. Sign up to be notified when FlexView and FlexView Diagnostic are available to purchase here.

In upcoming posts, we’ll provide an in-depth look at: