Children's Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA) has announced that they will offer an imaging app, called ImageInbox, to their patients. The app will help patients access digital versions of their imaging records, including MR, CT, ultrasound, and x-ray files.

Providers have trouble sharing digital versions of imaging files with patients or other clinicians because the files are massive, CHLA explained. A typical MR image, for example, is about 500 MB. If a patient wants certain imaging files, they usually have to ask a radiologist to transfer the images to a CD, they then pick up the CD in person, and deliver it to a referring physician.

With ImageInbox, which is a free app, parents of patients treated at CHLA can access imaging files and send the files to another provider. The imaging files that patients request are encrypted and stored on a cloud-based system.

ImageInbox, which was first released in August 2014, was developed by NexGenic, a company founded by Stephan G. Erberich, director of biomedical information at The Saban Research Institute of CHLA, and Marvin D. Nelson, chair of the Department of Radiology at CHLA.

Nelson explained in a statement that the app helps children avoid unnecessary radiation exposure that would occur if they needed to repeat imaging tests.