Feasibility of PACS based on 2 years experiences of Hokkaido University PACS

A hospital-wide PACS: 7 year experience and new development

Hokkaido university picture archiving and communication system (HU-PACS) began clinical service in the Hokkaido university hospital in 1989. For the first 5 years the service was limited to the radiology department and the outpatient clinics. This paper describes the outline of the HU-PACS, how we have extended the service to all wards and managed the increasing image data accompanied by the installation of new CTs and MRI since 1994. A plan of future HU-PACS is also described.

Small PACS for digital medical images--reliability and security in a clinical setting

Recently we introduced a small Picture Archiving Communication System (PACS) for handling CT and MRI data. Our experience with this system has been useful in identifying potential problems in a clinical setting. Since the use of PACS raises both medical and social concerns, it cannot be instituted without addressing concerns related to the reliability and security issues. Although PACS is useful in the management of medical images, there are concerns about their reliability and security in a clinical setting. Reliability encompassed image quality, timeliness of the reports, and the PACS to the Radiological Information System (RIS) interface including the retrieval of the previously obtained images. The security of the patient's medical data is also essential.

Clinical experience of Hokkaido University-PACS and FCR-angiography

Three years' experience with Hokkaido University-PACS (HU-PACS) is reported. In particular, this paper describes the suitability of FCR-angiography for HU-PACS, which has been in clinical use since March 1991. Image quality of FCR-arteriograms was evaluated in the head-and-face region and the abdominal region independently. The image quality in both regions was excellent. Quality of transferred images to image workstation for HU-PACS with 10:1 data compression was also evaluated, and no appreciable image degradation or loss of information was found in the transferred images. There was no significant difference in the examination time required for one patient in abdominal angiography between conventional angiography and FCR-angiography. In summary, FCR-angiography is suitable for HU-PACS as its image acquisition modality.