Is medical imaging a separate programming specialty?

Question

_{Sorry if it's yet another question with no response:), feel free to close. There's a bunch of questions on SO like: does technology/language/database used in medicine is quite different from that used in traditional area like banking/industry etc. You can hear in response or 1) no difference 2) it's vague and hard according to lack of standards.}

But medical imaging is attractive not only due to general concerns: humanistic & scientific. Job opportunities are strict and obvious. C++/Сom/ActiveX/C#, some open source libraries, DICOM/HL7, Python. It looks like a separate specialty - you don't need to explain on interview what exactly you did.

So my question is: Is medical imaging a separate specialty as it seems to stranger? Do the vendors mostly go in the same direction and you can change them without changing world view as it happens in enterprise? Or it is just kind of C++ programming which is usually interchanged with some other image processing, trading, drivers, op. system programming etc.?

Answer 1

I would say that programming is universal. Whether you're developing a web application or designing for an embedded system, you will face similar challenges. However, some aspects do change. And in this case, I would say that the focus on algorithms is what sets medical imaging apart from other fields.

I'm not an expert, but there is definitely some advanced math and algorithms involved in medical imaging. For example, consider image registration - a common algorithm used in the field. Not only would an MI expert have to have a good mathematical understanding of the registration, but he would also have to be able to readily implement and optimize it - not a trivial task.