Five levels of PACS modularity: Integrating 3D and other advanced visualization tools

Kenneth C. Wang, Ross W. Filice, James F. Philbin, Eliot L. Siegel, Paul G. Nagy

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

10 Scopus citations

Abstract

The current array of PACS products and 3D visualization tools presents a wide range of options for applying advanced visualization methods in clinical radiology. The emergence of server-based rendering techniques creates new opportunities for raising the level of clinical image review. However, best-of-breed implementations of core PACS technology, volumetric image navigation, and application-specific 3D packages will, in general, be supplied by different vendors. Integration issues should be carefully considered before deploying such systems. This work presents a classification scheme describing five tiers of PACS modularity and integration with advanced visualization tools, with the goals of characterizing current options for such integration, providing an approach for evaluating such systems, and discussing possible future architectures. These five levels of increasing PACS modularity begin with what was until recently the dominant model for integrating advanced visualization into the clinical radiologist's workflow, consisting of a dedicated stand-alone post-processing workstation in the reading room. Introduction of context-sharing, thin clients using server-based rendering, archive integration, and user-level application hosting at successive levels of the hierarchy lead to a modularized imaging architecture, which promotes user interface integration, resource efficiency, system performance, supportability, and flexibility. These technical factors and system metrics are discussed in the context of the proposed five-level classification scheme.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)1096-1102
Number of pages7
JournalJournal of Digital Imaging
Volume24
Issue number6
DOIs
StatePublished - Dec 2011

Keywords

  • 3D imaging (imaging, threedimensional)
  • Advanced visualization
  • Application hosting
  • Computer systems
  • PACS
  • Server-based rendering

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Radiological and Ultrasound Technology
  • Radiology Nuclear Medicine and imaging
  • Computer Science Applications

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