Transforming image workflow for cleft surgery

Together with the East of England Cleft Network, Media Studio has undertaken a complete modernisation of the way in which cleft lip and palate images are produced and managed in the region. 

 
The treatment of cleft lip and palate starts at birth and continues through to adulthood, involving a large multidisciplinary team of specialist surgeons, speech and language therapists and many others. At every stage of treatment, each patient's progress and outcomes are monitored in great detail and the results go on to be audited on a national scale. Photography and video recording play an important role in every patient's journey, as well as in teaching and training.
 
The first stage in transforming the way in which cleft images are handled was to create two new posts:
 
Abbey Staplehurst, Team Leader for Cleft Imaging, is a clinical photographer who has taken on the responsibility of overseeing the quality of photography, 3D imaging and video recording for cleft services - on top of all her other clinical photography work. Abbey works closely with the surgical team and Media Studio's clinical photography team to ensure that photography of the face, lips and palate follow a rigorous, standardised protocol. She also liaises with medical photographers at other hospitals within the region to ensure that standardisation is adhered to across the network.
 
Cleft Image Technician, Joe Matthews, handles all the video recordings, photographs and 3D images that are required for viewing at multidisciplinary clinical meetings and combined clinics. (That's Joe in the 3D mesh image).
 
The next stage was to complete the transformation from old-fashioned, tape-based analogue systems to an efficient, high-quality digital workflow including recording, storage, editing, cataloguing and delivery. Cleft Net East purchased new video cameras and state-of-the-art recording equipment , which Joe is in the process of installing and comissioning. This will enable all recordings to be made on solid state media, thus speeding up processing and ensuring that all recordings are stored securely but accessible by the appropriate clinical staff when and where they are needed.
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