PACS: current technology, clinical requirements, and future trends

Abstract

As the radiology community prepares for the centennial celebration of the discovery of the X-ray, we are also on the verge of a dramatic change in the way that images are archived, retrieved, and displayed. This trend towards an all digital department will be made possible by advances in computer and communications technology. During the next hundred years, images will be acquired, stored, and displayed digitally. These images will be available to any authorized health care worker not only throughout a single hospital, but across large hospital networks. Computers will permit sophisticated image enhancement and computer assisted diagnosis will become routine. This tutorial provides an overview of the technologies currently utilized in large scale picture archiving and communication systems (PACS), an assessment of how successful today's technologies are at meeting the clinical and economic requirements for diagnostic imaging, and includes a discussion of future trends and expectations. It focuses on large scale, hospital wide, or multiple hospital PAC systems. For the purpose of this tutorial, the term PACS will refer to a computer based system designed to store, retrieve, and display medical images.