MSK Radiology 4u - Innovative Way of Teaching MSK Radiology

Applications (apps) on mobile phones have revolutionized how radiology is taught and cases shared among health professionals worldwide. Radiology apps are able to provide information in a digestible and easy to view format with just the click of a button. An app is a perfect way to view cases not readily accessible to health professionals, especially true in remote locations where specialist centers are not always available. The visible nature of radiology makes the specialty a promising area for developing and sharing teaching cases, scanning protocols and guidelines.

In light of this, a group of consultant radiologists at the Royal Orthopedic Hospital, Birmingham, have developed an app called “MSK Radiology 4u.” This is a free app available on android and IOS platforms as well as through the website mskradiology4u.co.uk. This was developed by Dr. A Mark Davies, Dr. Steve James, Dr. Rajesh Botchu, Consultant Musculoskeletal Radiologists with technical support of Reubro International.

The app is an interactive database containing over 3500 musculoskeletal radiology teaching cases. It covers a plethora of pathology including bone tumors, soft-tissue sarcomas, sports injuries, infection, and metabolic diseases. Being a specialist orthopedic center, the app includes everyday run of the mill as well as complex cases only seen in such places. Representative pictures include imaging across several modalities with a short easy-to-read description on imaging features and final diagnosis. Users can create their own case list, search for a particular diagnosis, bodypart or utilize the database in a quiz format [Figures 1 and 2].

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Figure 1:

Screenshots of the app - (a-c) shows the first page (a), second page (b), and page with an interactive skeleton (c).

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Figure 2:

Screenshots of the app - (a-c) shows an example of case with question (a), magnified image (b), and answer (c).

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New cases are added to the collection on a regular basis. It is an excellent resource for radiologists, radiographers, students, and allied health professionals. Given the potential worldwide appeal for such a resource, it has been launched in Spanish and English. The app has already been placed within the top ten best radiology mobile apps. We have users in 179 countries. Regular online teaching sessions (webinars) are organized on a plethora of musculoskeletal radiology topics, and the recordings of which are later available on the website.

There are several radiology teaching websites and apps (radiologyassistant, radiopedia, and vumedi), but none that’s specific to musculoskeletal radiology with large collection of cases.

We are excited about this new format to appreciate musculoskeletal pathology. This could at 1 time only be viewed on radiographic films or on a dedicated picture archiving and communication system (PACS). The vast array of cases available is a testament to the hard work and years of dedication our consultant colleagues have put into the app. We believe “MSK Radiology 4u,” will be the premiere online and smartphone-based education tool for musculoskeletal radiology, and hope it continues to expand to reach all fellow health professionals.