PAPYRUS: a portable image file format

Abstract

As part of a hospital-integrated PACS at the University Hospital of Geneva, a standard file format (PAPYRUS) was developed based on the ACR-NEMA specifications on image communication (¹). The purpose was to define a unique file structure that can handle images as well as the related clinical information to be used in multimodality image archiving and communication systems. The PAPYRUS format can be referred to as an “encapsulated” format for ACR-NEMA messages. The first version of the PAPYRUS format has been extensively modified after its evaluation by a technical working group of the European teleradiology project (“TELEMED” project). After several technical meetings the different partners of TELEMED came to an agreement that required a few functionalities to be added to the original proposal. Among the modifications two features supported by the SPI (Standard Product Interconnect for compatibility of Digital Imaging) were discussed: 1) the unique image identification code and 2) the image folder concept that contains references to image data sets. Related images can be distributed in separate files or directly in the folder file.

Display and image manipulation programs are being developed on different hardware platforms based on the PAPYRUS image file format as part of the Geneva PACS project as well as the TELEMED project for teleradiology and remote expert consultation in Europe.