#25 Practical Digital Imaging and PACS (1999 AAPM Summer School)
Author: Anthony Seibert et alISBN: 9780944838921 ISBN10: 0944838928
Published: 1999 | 577 pp | Softcover
Price: $ 85.00
Canadian Medical Physics Newsletter | October 1999
"This book by Medical Physics Publishing is a compendium of 24 papers presented at the 1999 AAPM summer school. From the basics of digital imaging to a model RFP for PACS, this book discusses most if not all of the important issues related to digital imaging.
"Chapter 1 is an excellent overview of Picture Archiving and Communication Systems (PACS). The author explains how recent advances in networking technology has made PACS implementation very cost effective compared to what it was about a decade ago. General guidelines of PACS requirements such as image production, network infrastructure, image management, display, analysis and storage are also discussed. The second chapter is devoted to nuclear medicine imaging technology and its relation to image transfer and archiving. The physics of computed tomography is discussed in chapter 3. Basic concepts such as slice thickness, helical pitch and dose measurements are reviewed. The advantages of starting a PACS implementation with CT (or MR) instead of digital radiography are presented. DICOM specifications for a CT are also given. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is the subject of chapter 4. Image acquisition is explained using the concepts of phase and frequency encoding, k-space and Fourier Transformation. The reader can also find some technical information on advanced imaging techniques used in MRI such as Echo Planar Imaging (EPI), Spiral Acquisition, Angiography, Functional Neuroimaging and Interventional MR. PACS issues related to MRI are mentioned briefly. Digital angiography and fluoroscopy systems and the challenges they pose to PACS implementation are reviewed in chapter 5. Film digitizers and laser printers, their technical specifications, quality control procedures and integration into a
PACS system are given in detail in chapter 6. An excellent overview of computer radiography physics and technology is given in chapter 7 followed by its corresponding quality control program in chapter 8. Chapter 9 describes the physics and technology of digital mammography, its integration into a PACS system as well as details about its quality control procedures. The detective quantum efficiency (DQE) as a means to determine image quality in x-ray digital imaging is explained in chapter 10. Because PACS implementation requires, among other things, a good knowledge of computer networking and communication, the reader will find in chapter 11 an excellent reference to all of the elements that play an important part in a networked radiological environment. Essential concepts of DICOM, some elements of the base standard, HIS/RIS interfacing issues and some useful internet addresses for DICOM workbenches can be found in chapter 12. Chapter 13 is a compilation of procedures used for DICOM networks diagnostic and acceptance testing. Some examples of application of acceptance testing freeware are also well documented. The reader will find the distinction made between DICOM conformance and DICOM compatibility particularly interesting. Two different models for DICOM purchasing are discussed. The HIS/RIS interface to PACS is the subject of chapter 14. The necessity of such interfacing in order to fully take advantage of an electronic environment in radiology is explained. Chapter 15 takes the reader to the future of image distribution: The web browser. Basic concepts and implementation issues of image compression and its relation to fast image transmission through a PACS network are reviewed in chapter 16. Teleradiology is described in chapter 17 as a PACS system without the archiving element or a Picture Communication System. The importance of the radiology workbench in improving the overall efficiency of a PACS system is presented in chapter 18. The effect of workstation environment (light, noise, motion, temperature & humidity, and space) and workstation ergonomics (radiologist position, hardware, software) are discussed. Since a PACS system relies entirely on high quality workstations for image display, the reader will find chapter 19 particularly useful for acceptance testing and quality control of PACS workstations. PACS economic issues are reviewed in chapter 20. Without a well thought out request for proposal, a PACS implementation effort may suffer some serious set backs. For this, the reader will find, in chapter 21, a model RFP for PACS extremely useful. A study of PACS implementation issues spanning through a period of over 10 years at the Medical University of South Carolina are the subject of chapter 22. The reader will appreciate the difficulties encountered and the adopted solutions from the initial CR PACS implementation, to a full blown PACS system serving six ultrasound scanners, seven nuclear medicine cameras, four CT scanners, three MRI scanners, three angiography units, five digital fluroscopy units, four film scanners, six CR units, two mobile fluoroscopy units and one stereotactic breast biopsy unit. Chapter 23 explains a prototypical storage model used in data management and archiving which is a crucial part of any PACS. The reader will get familiar with notions such as application layer, data management layer, file & filesystem layer, storage management and physical storage layer which together form a pyramid with the application layer at the top. Finally, Chapter 24 discusses the basics of ultrasound imaging.
"In today's fast evolving communications and networking technology and because
of the economic benefits associated with an electronic radiology environment,
more and more institutions will realize that it is in their interest to become
fully digital in their day-to-day operations. Any medical physicist, biomedical
engineer or health professional involved in a PACS implementation effort,
quality control and/or acquisition of digital imaging modalities will find
in this book an excellent and complete reference."
Nabil Adnani