Internet-accessible radiographic database of Vietnam War casualties for medical student education.
OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this study was to determine the feasibility of archiving radiographic images from Vietnam era conflict casualties into a personal computer-based electronic database of text and images and displaying the data using an Internet-accessible database for preservation and educational purposes.


METHODS
Thirty-two patient cases were selected at random from a pool of 1,000 autopsy reports in which radiographs were available. A total of 74 radiographs from these cases were digitized using a commercial image scanner and then uploaded into an Internet accessible database. The quality of the digitized images was assessed by administering an image-based test to a group of 12 medical students.


RESULTS
No statistically significant (p > 0.05) differences were found between test scores when using the original radiographs versus using the digitized radiographs on the Internet-accessible database.


CONCLUSIONS
An Internet-accessible database is capable of effectively archiving Vietnam era casualty radiographs for educational purposes.
Critchley
Eric P
EP
Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, 4301 Jones Bridge Road, Bethesda, MD 20814, USA.
Smirniotopoulos
James G
JG
D016208:Databases, Factual; D006801:Humans; D020407:Internet; D008887:Military Medicine / Q000193:education*; D011856:Radiographic Image Enhancement; D011871:Radiology / Q000193:education*; D014481:United States; D014744:Vietnam; D014857:Warfare; D014947:Wounds and Injuries / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*