PACS Peripherals Power Productivity

The PACS peripheral devices are critical to powering productivity and efficiencies across the enterprise. PACS peripherals are often the essential link between the analog and paper world and today’s digital radiology department, but increasingly they’re streamlining links between PACS information and caregivers. At RSNA, vendors are showcasing PACS support tools and applications with upgrades to image acquisition and processing applications that are capable of handling large data sets and improving image quality. 

Ashva Technologies (Booth 206) is highlighting its upgraded version of PhoeniX, a DICOM converter. PhoeniX 2.0 can now interface with the Vidar film digitizer to scan, segment and send film to any PACS. PhoeniX 2.0 allows users to scan documents, import multimedia files like JPEG/BMP/AVI, and import locally stored DICOM images and pushes them to a PACS server. Users also can write a DICOM CD/DVD with a viewer with the converted DICOM files. The company also is featuring Stream, a modality worklist server to streamline flow of patient study information.

aycan Medical Systems (Booth 8710) is showcasing aycan xray-print, a DICOM paper print solution for sharing images with referral physicians and patients; and aycan workstation OsiriXPRO, image post-processing software dedicated to DICOM images for navigation and visualization of multidetector 3D-reconstruction studies.

Codonics (Booth 5621) is showcasing its Integrity Medical Image Importer for importing medical studies from CD or DVD into PACS. Integrity performs searches to match study demographics. Users can verify the match is correct, directly edit the study attributes if needed, and save the merged data to the PACS, local archive or the Virtua Medical Disc Publisher using DICOM store. 

Emageon (Booth 8537) is featuring its new Outside Study Gateway (OSG) that enables outside facilities to perform direct DICOM transmission of PACS images to the receiving hospital’s OSG server, providing for integrity checks as part of auto-forwarding into the hospital’s PACS. The studies are transmitted across a VPN and segregated, avoiding overlaps in patient IDs. OSG allows side-by-side comparisons of exams performed with the outside exams done at the remote facility. 

Foresight Imaging (Booth 7636) is displaying version 2.2 of its TIMS DICOM System along with demonstrations of the TIMS Consultant. TIMS converts non-DICOM medical modality to DICOM. The digital study can be sent to PACS, recorded to CD/DVD/USB, and printed to film or paper. Version 2.2 includes features including audio recording and annotation, audio playback, audio recording to CD/DVD, file attachment, editing of saved studies, TIF and JPEG 2000 file import and DICOM send lists.

Integrated Modular Systems (IMSI; Booth 3311) is launching Version 5.1.3d of imsiPACS, with modules for nuclear medicine and 3D visualization. It provides a DICOM 3.0, and HIPAA-compliant server for image storage, query and retrieval, forwarding, printing and DICOM-formatted media interchange through import and export functions. Other features include a shared archive, patient reconciliation, DICOM Print, a failover option and web-based administration.

Konica Minolta (Booth 3409) is introducing a new laser imager for mammography, the DryPro 873 Laser, which provides a 4.0 DMax at 43.75um. It prints in 50 seconds and has a throughput of 150 14-inch x 17-inch sheets per hour, the company says.

Laitek (Booth 1606) is spotlighting Migratek v. 2 Advanced Migration Services, which reads, processes and transmits medical imaging data directly from the system database and storage media to the new PACS archive. The tool kit provides a virtual DICOM archive during the data migration process that unifies access to data through a single DICOM Query/Retrieve interface.

Merge Healthcare (Booth 4058) is featuring its eFilm Workstation and MergeCOM toolkits, and is highlighting its Fusion and Cedara solution suites. Cedara OpenEyes image processing, visualization and manipulation platform can help developers create clinical applications, enabling acceleration of application development via imaging development tools, including technology for 2D, 3D and 4D visualization.

mPlexus (Booth 9551) is debuting version 2.0 of its DICOM router product, DICOM eXtender, which has been designed to provide a secure transfer of medical images. The features include: DICOM header manipulation; DICOM study import, edit and route; route priority; transmission throttling; basic prefetching; a diagnostic quality viewer; disk space management; and archive functionality.

NAI Tech Products (Booth 3819) is introducing its MDR Video RP and MDR Express RP, stand-alone medical image recorders with disk label printing. MDR Video RP records streaming video to CD or DVD media in a DICOM format with color label printing that includes patient demographic data. It can be installed in fluoroscopy rooms or on ultrasound, mobile C-arm or endoscopic carts. MDR Express RP provides the disc burning and labeling capability without video capture for modalities that have DICOM output. The RP also has the electronic scribing process.

PACSGear (Booth 9142) is demonstrating enhancements to its document and multimedia connectivity solutions MediaWriter and PACSscan. MediaWriter, a DICOM CD/DVD burning system, now integrates reports from DICOM Structured Report and HL7 feeds. Featuring the Epson Discproducer, MediaWriter D200 includes a DICOM viewer to create portable medical records. PACSscan, a document scanning and importing software, now includes functionality to send any electronic information to PACS/EHR. PACSGear Print2PACS functionality has been incorporated into PACSscan. 

peerVue (Booth 5502) is demonstrating capabilities of its qiVue application, a PACS-integrated, web-based solution for healthcare organizations seeking to meet accreditation and regulatory requirements. qiVue equips facilities with capabilities to resolve workflow and regulatory challenges, including: ACR-required peer review; JCAHO Critical Test Results management; ER communications and discrepancies; nighthawk discrepancy management; and consultation and follow-up management.

Pegasus Imaging (Booth 3306) is demonstrating the performance of image compression technologies provided within its PICTools Software Development Kit. The PICTools Demo allows the input of bitmap images and RAW images for compression and decompression. It gives image data such as file sizes before and after, compression ratios and compression and expansion speeds. The user has control over features such as compression type, compression ratio, bit depths and PSNR.

Softek Solutions (Booth 7710) is showcasing its Illuminate product, which gives Philips Healthcare iSite PACS users access to radiology reports and their corresponding images. Using a free-text-based search algorithm, Illuminate is available to users of iSite 3.3, 3.5 and 3.6 and can backload and index half a million studies in less than a day. 

Sony Medical (Booth 4229) is debuting its work-in-progress FilmStation Mammography Film Imager, model UP-DF750. The printer is for full-field digital mammography applications and designed to help facilities meet MQSA regulations. The imager yields images in 606 dpi at an ultra-fast print time of 90 sheets per hour. The UP-DF750 can stand upright alongside a PC under a desktop and has front-mounted controls and a DICOM 3.0 interface.  

Sorna (Booth 7632) is exhibiting Reviewer CD, a DICOM viewer that provides a viewing experience of externally created CDs and DVDs and runs on Vista and Windows. Reviewer is designed to acquire, view, store and merge both internally generated and imported DICOM images for new CD/DVD production. Sorna’s MyBabyCD software creates non-DICOM CDs for patients receiving prenatal ultrasound exams.

Vidar Systems (Booth 8913) is releasing its Clinical-Express 4.1, the CE-MDD edition of its DICOM film acquisition software that is available in English, German, Spanish and Italian. Clinical­Express 4.1 was developed for use with Vidar’s line of film digitizers such as the CAD PRO Advantage, DiagnosticPRO Advantage and Sierra plus.