Digital Imaging Communications in Medicine(DICOM) was brought forward by ACR and NEMA to solve the joining problem of medical equipment. It is a public international standard now. Using DICOM in teleradiology is very important, especially for China. In this paper the authors analyze the contents and specialty of DICOM and make comments on how to use it in teleradiology and picture access and communication system(PACS).
Computer Communication Networks ; standards ; Radiology Information Systems ; standards ; Software ; Systems Integration ; Teleradiology

In this paper, the R-PS integration technique of the digital radiology is discussed. By the integration of the RIS and PACS, all data and information of each system and each medical image equipment in R-PS can be exchanged according to DICOM3.0, and seamless linkage can be realized by module interfaces. R-PS has many advantages such as share, safety, compatibility, practicability and feasibility. Standardization of communication interface, modularization of application and resource share of medical information can be realized by this technique.
Computer Communication Networks ; Hospital Information Systems ; Humans ; Radiographic Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted ; Radiology ; trends ; Radiology Information Systems ; Software ; Systems Integration ; Teleradiology

Considering the real conditions in China, the strategy and scheme of DICOM-E-Mail's clinical applications in China are discussed in this paper.
China ; Computer Communication Networks ; Electronic Mail ; instrumentation ; standards ; Radiology Information Systems ; instrumentation ; standards ; Teleradiology ; instrumentation ; standards

With the widespread dissemination of picture archiving and communication systems (PACSs) in hospitals, the amount of imaging data is rapidly increasing. Effective image retrieval systems are required to manage these complex and large image databases. The authors reviewed the past development and the present state of medical image retrieval systems including text-based and content-based systems. In order to provide a more effective image retrieval service, the intelligent content-based retrieval systems combined with semantic systems are required.
Radiology Information Systems ; Semantics

Hospital Information Systems ; Humans ; Radiology Information Systems

DICOM-e-mail is a secure teleradiology protocol released by German Radiology Society and has already been applied clinically. To improve the robustness of the system, the protocol has been upgraded by adding some mechanisms such as system feedback. Moreover, a test method is also implemented by sending erroneous mails to application software that supports DICOM-e-mail. Through the tests for two different DICOM-e-mail teleradiology application, the validity of the new protocol is proved and at the same time some bugs are found. The implementation of the latest protocol and the general error tests can help to make the whole teleradiology system a better robustness. The implementation of DICOM-e-mail protocol in our country is also discussed in this paper.
Computer Communication Networks ; standards ; Computer Security ; standards ; Electronic Mail ; standards ; Humans ; Internet ; Radiology Information Systems ; standards ; Software ; Teleradiology

How to use clustering techniques in PACS system is introduced. Two kinds of cluster solution to configure PACS system is proposed.
Computer Systems ; Radiology Information Systems ; organization & administration

PACS is a long-term and complex systematic project. The system needs support of hardwares and softwares. The functions of the PACS and the context of integration between PACS and other systems must be specified in details. This paper introduces experiences of a PACS on sides of system environment, system technology and system relationships.
Hospital Information Systems ; Radiology Information Systems ; Systems Integration

PURPOSE: Picture Archiving and Communication System (PACS) is difficult to implement in the best of situations, but evidence is growing that the benefits are significant. The aims of this study are to analyze the current status of full PACS and establish successful installation standard of dental PACS. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Materials and methods were based on the investigation of current working status and installation standard of PACS, and observation of variable issues to installation of dental PACS. RESULTS: By September 30, 2004, full PACS implementations in their facilities were 88.1% in specialized general hospitals (37 installations out of total 42 hospitals), 59.8% in general hospitals (144 installations out of total 241 hospitals), 12.3% in medical hospitals (116 installations out of total 941 hospitals) and 3.6% in dental hospitals (4 installations out of total 110 hospitals) Only 4 university dental hospitals currently have installed and are operating full PACS. Major obstacle to wide spread of dental PACS is initial high investments. CONCLUSIONS: Clinical environments of dental PACS differed from medical situation. Because of characteristic dental practice, the initial investments for dental PACS are generally much greater than those of medical PACS. Also new economic crisis makes users scruple. The best way to overcome these limitations is to establish an economic installation standard for dental PACS. Also the clear technical communication between the customer and the supplier before both sides are committed to the obstacles are critical to its success.
Hospitals, General ; Investments ; Radiology Information Systems

Picture archiving and communication systems (PACS) has widely been used in many hospitals. Film digitizer has been used in order to create digital image file from conventional plain radiographic films for PACS. In this study, we quantitatively assessed the characteristics of film digitizer for both laser and CCD camera-based type used in Severance hospital. We created three test films to measure the quality of digitized images. The test films were then digitized by both laser and CCD camera-based film digitizer. Finally, the image files were transferred to the PC in which spatial resolution, contrast, and uniformity were evaluated. We also measured digitization time to evaluate the speed of digitizer. Modulation transfer function (MTF) was measured to evaluate the spatial resolution. Contrast was evaluated by measuring of useful range of optical density (OD). Contrast uniformity was calculated by the percentage of difference between minimum and maximum pixel values on the digitized images. Spatial resolution of laser digitizer was ~~5.0cycles/mm, while that of CCD-based unit was ~~1.5cycles/mm of spatial resolution at 10% of MTF. Useful range of OD for CCD unit was ~~77%, while that for laser unit was 100%. Contrast uniformities of laser unit were better than those of CCD-based unit. Digitization time was ~~10sec/film using CCD unit, and ~~60sec/film using LASER unit at film size of 17x14 inches. Laser digitizer can provide relatively higher image quality, while CCD-based unit has the advantage of higher speed than laser unit.
Radiology Information Systems ; X-Ray Film