Chapter 10: PACS Archiving and Peripherals

Archive

What can be generically defined as a place where records or documents are preserved?

Electronic Archive

In PACS, what serves as the new file room and warehouse for all DICOM imaging modalities?

On magnetic tape or optical disks

Since an archive is a storage area for all patient and image data, where is it often found?

Controls receipt, storage, and distribution of new and historic images

What does PACS archives control?

fastest

The archive is one of the ____________ growing components in the PACS

Every 18 to 24 months

How often does the storage capacity for PACS double?

computers / storage

PACS archives are a complex arrangement of _____________ and ___________ space

Several components, hardware, and software

What does PACS archives consist of?

- Image manager and controller

- Image storage and server or archive server

What are the two major categories that PACS archives can be divided into?

Image Manager

What contains the master database of everything that is archived and controls the receipt, retrieval, and distribution of images?

All DICOM processes running within the archive

What does the image manager also control within the archive?

Sybase / Oracle

Image manager runs a reliable commercial database such as ___________ or ___________ with structures query language (SQL)

Only the image header information, not the image data

What does the image manager database only contain?

On the archive server

Where is image data stored?

The system can call on the mirror and continue to run as normal

Since the database run by the image manager is mirrored, if one database goes down, what can the system do?

The archive server would be useless

Without the complete database run by the image manager, what would happen to the archiver server?

The RIS and the HIS

What does the PACS image manager interface with?

Interfacing

What allows the PACS database to collect additional patient information necessary for effective operation?

In populating image information into the hospital EMR

What role can the image manager play in managing patients' electronic medical records?

Patient name, identification, exam date, ordering physician, location

What information does the DICOM header include that is contained in the image manager?

fields / query

In the DICOM header ________ are organized within the database to retrieve a ________

Image Storage or Archive Server

What consists of the physical storage devices of the archive system, and consists of two or three tiers of storage?

Short term, midterm, long term

What are the storage tiers associated with the image storage or archive server that represents a specific level of the archive?

A short-term tier and a long-term tier

What storage tiers are most PACS archive systems set up with?

Short-term tier and usually 3 to 5 seconds

Which storage tier is online or quickly available? In how many seconds is it available?

Long-term tier and can take 1 to 5 minutes

Which storage tier has near-line or images that must be retrieved from some tape or disk storage device and brought to RAIDS? How long can this process take?

File size = matrix size x bit depth

In image storage, what does the file size equal?

pentabytes / 10^15

The number of medical images captured each year in the U.S. is over ____________ which is _____

System needs, system costs, and system compatibility

What are the three reasons PACS archives are chosen?

An application service provider (ASP)

If no capital funds or personnel are available to implement or operate the complex archive, facilities seek other alternatives, such as what?

Application Service Provider (ASP)

What is a company that provides outsourcing of archiving and management functions for a pay-per-use or pay-per-month charge?

hardware / software

An ASP company can provide the latest and greatest __________ and _________ that a smaller institution could not afford

For the day-to-day management of the archive system and keeps the system up and running without issues

What are some responsibilities of ASP companies?

short-term / hospital / long-term / offsite

ASP models have a _______-________ archive located on ___________ premises, and the _______-________ archive is handled at the ___________ location that is run by the ASP company

Disaster Recovery Mechanism

What is another common use for ASP that involves making copies of each tape or disk and storing them in another location in the event of a cyberattack or natural disaster?

backups / day / manager / contingency plan

The most important thing to know is that ____________ are completed each _____ in the image __________ databse, and a ______________ ______ needs to be in place in case a disaster strikes the archive room

PACS Peripheral Devices

What is any supplemental device connected to PACS that performs a specific function, including film digitizers, imagers, and CD burners?

Film Digitizer

What PACS peripheral device scans the analog film and produces numeric signals for each part of the scanned film, which are then fed into a software application that displays the image according to the signal received?

Laser technology and CCD technology

What are the two major types of film digitizers?

The burning of images to an optical disk (CD or DVD)

Since film printing is a costly part of PACS, what solution has been implemented to have physical copies of images?

A DICOM viewer

When a disk is burned with the patient's images, what is also burned onto the optical disk (CD or DVD)?

Disks take up less space and can be added directly to the patient's office chart, and the image can be manipulated

Why do many referring physicians prefer having images on a disk rather than film?

cheaper / send

Disks are much ________ to produce and ________ out

Teleradiology

What term is used to describe the process of transferring digitized images for delivery at a distance to a radiologist?