Mayo_and_Ibm_Use_Gaming_Technology

Case Study Two: Mayo Clinic Turns to Game Processor to Save Lives THE CASE This case describes the collaboration between The Mayo Clinic and IBM in an effort to overcome the realization that the clinic’s information processing technologies couldn’t keep up with the increasing processing demands necessary to analyze digital medical images produced in their radiology department. Through this joint effort, Mayo’s radiologists would use the new technology to assist them in interpreting this ever-increasing amount of information and improve patient care. As noted in the case study, “This is a case of technology outpacing the human ability to manage the information it produces.”1 However, it is also a case of using the technology from one industry in a new and unique way to solve a problem in another industry. DISCUSSION One of the unique aspects of this case is the utilization of a technology from one industry, the gaming computer industry, in a totally different and unique industry, the medical imaging industry. In this case, IBM used the Cell processor, a chip designed to accelerate three-dimensional (3D) graphics in gaming consoles, to improve the analysis of digital images in the medical industry. Paired with the right software, this processor significantly decreased the amount of time necessary to analyze complex medical images. Undoubtedly, this is not the only example of how information technology (IT) developed for one industry have been used to solve the problems or create new opportunities in another industry. The one industry that has led to the transference of its IT developments to more industries than any other is the space technologies industry.2 The IT developed for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) programs has been used to solve IT problems in homes, hospitals, farms, airports, and sports.3 Nowhere has the application of these NASA IT discoveries been more widely adopted than in medical settings, most notably hospitals. Lasers used to treat blocked arteries, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), digital mammography, and computer algorithms for chromosome analysis are but a few of the technologies developed for medicine that have come from the IT created for NASA.4 CONCLUSION As the creation of new information technology (IT) solutions, whether those technologies are hardware or software, occurs across a wide spectrum of industries, the likelihood that cross-industry applications of those technologies will increase. The transfer of IT solutions from one industry to another is nothing more than the logical extension of making the best use of IT as capital. It also emphasizes the old adage that you don’t need to reinvent the wheel! BIBLIOGRAPHY 1Stair, Ralph and Reynolds, George. Principles of Information Systems, 9th edition. Boston, MA: Course Technology, 2010. 2Innovative Partnerships Program. NASA Spinoff. Ed. Joe Jones. NASA. Page updated March 25, 2010. Site accessed June 5, 2010. http://www.sti.nasa.gov/tto/ 3Benefits of the Space Program. NASA Solutions. NASA. Site accessed June 5, 2010. http://www.nasasolutions.com/at_home.html 4At the Hospital with NASA. Technology Transfer Program, Marshall Space Flight Center. Site accessed June 5, 2010. http://www.nasasolutions.com/at_home/athospital.htm