Abstract
The conception and deployment of cost effective Picture Archiving and Communication Systems (PACS) is a concern for small to medium medical imaging facilities, research environments, and developing countries’ healthcare institutions. Financial constraints and the specificity of these scenarios contribute to a low adoption rate of PACS in those environments. Furthermore, with the advent of ubiquitous computing and new initiatives to improve healthcare information technologies and data sharing, such as IHE and XDS-i, a PACS must adapt quickly to changes. This paper describes Dicoogle, a software framework that enables developers and researchers to quickly prototype and deploy new functionality taking advantage of the embedded Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine (DICOM) services. This full-fledged implementation of a PACS archive is very amenable to extension due to its plugin-based architecture and out-of-the-box functionality, which enables the exploration of large DICOM datasets and associated metadata. These characteristics make the proposed solution very interesting for prototyping, experimentation, and bridging functionality with deployed applications. Besides being an advanced mechanism for data discovery and retrieval based on DICOM object indexing, it enables the detection of inconsistencies in an institution’s data and processes. Several use cases have benefited from this approach such as radiation dosage monitoring, Content-Based Image Retrieval (CBIR), and the use of the framework as support for classes targeting software engineering for clinical contexts.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Huang HK: PACS and imaging informatics: basic principles and applications. Hoboken, NJ:Wiley, p 704, 2004
Oosterwijk H: Dicom basics, third edition, aubrey. OTech, Inc, TX, 2005
Costa C, Silva A, Oliveira J: Current perspectives on PACS and a cardiology case study. Advanced Computational Intelligence Paradigms in Healthcare. Springer Berlin, Heidelberg, pp 79–108, 2007
Duncan LD, Gray K, Lewis JM, Bell JL, Bigge J, McKinney JM: Clinical integration of picture archiving and communication systems with pathology and hospital information system in oncology. Am Surg 76:982–986, 2010
Ratib O, Rosset A: Open-source software in medical imaging: development of OsiriX. Int J Comput Assist Radiol Surg 1:187–196, 2006
Costa C, Ferreira C, Bastião L, Ribeiro L, Silva A, Oliveira JL: Dicoogle-an open source peer-to-peer PACS. Journal of Digit imaging 24(5):848–856, 2011
McDonald CJ, et al: Open Source software in medical informatics—why, how and what. Int J Med Inform 69:175–184, 2003
Mansoori B, Erhard KK, Sunshine JL: Picture Archiving and Communication System (PACS) implementation, integration benefits in an Integrated Health System. Acad Radiol 19:229–235, 2012
Myers B: U.S. Medical imaging informatics industry reconnects with growth in the enterprise image archiving market
Vossberg M, Tolxdorff T, Krefting D: DICOM image communication in Globus-based medical grids. IEEE Trans Inf Technol Biomed 12:145–153, 2008
Yang C-T, Chen C-H, Yang M-F: Implementation of a medical image file accessing system in co-allocation data grids. Futur Gener Comput Syst 26:1127–1140, 2010
Teng CC, Mitchell J, Walker C, Swan A, Davila C, Howard D, Needham T: A medical image archive solution in the cloud. In Software Engineering and Service Sciences (ICSESS), 2010 I.E. International Conference on (pp. 431–434). IEEE, (2010, July)
Costa C, Freitas F, Pereira M, Silva A: Oliveira JeL: indexing and retrieving DICOM data in disperse and unstructured archives. Int J Comput Assist Radiol Surg 4:71–77, 2009
Pohjonen H, Ross P, Blickman JG, Kamman R: Pervasive access to images and data—the use of computing grids and mobile/wireless devices across healthcare enterprises. IEEE Trans Inf Technol Biomed 11:81–86, 2007
Digital Imaging and Communication in Medicine (DICOM)-Part 1-20: National Electrical Manufacturers Association, 2015
Digital Imaging and Communication in Medicine (DICOM)-Part 4: National Electrical Manufacturers Association, 2015
Digital Imaging and Communication in Medicine (DICOM)-Part 18: National Electrical Manufacturers Association, 2015
Koutelakis GV, Lymberopoulos DK: WADA Service: an extension of DICOM WADO service. IEEE Trans Inf Technol Biomed 13:121–130, 2009
Valente F, Viana-Ferreira C, Costa C, Oliveira JL: A RESTful image gateway for multiple medical image repositories. Information Technology in Biomedicine, IEEE Transactions on, 16(3):356–364, 2012
Pattynama PMT: Legal aspects of cross-border teleradiology. Eur J Radiol 73:26–30, 2010
Witting K: Health Information Exchange: Integrating the Healthcare Enterprise (IHE). In Introduction to Nursing Informatics (pp. 79–96). Springer London, 2015
IHE Radiology (RAD) Technical Framework - Revision 14.0 Volume 4 (RAD TF-4): National Extensions, IHE International, Inc. 2015. url:http://www.ihe.net/uploadedFiles/Documents/Radiology/IHE_RAD_TF_Vol4.pdf
International I: Cross-enterprise document sharing for imaging (XDS-i), 2015
Ribeiro LS, Rodrigues RP, Costa C, Oliveira JL: Enabling outsourcing XDS for imaging on the public cloud. Stud Health Technol Inform 192:33–37, 2013
Ebbert TL: The state of teleradiology in 2003 and changes since 1999. Yale University 2006
Binkhuysen FHB, Ranschaert ER: Teleradiology: evolution and concepts. Eur J Radiol 78:205–209, 2011
Thrall JH: Teleradiology Part II. Limitations, risks, and opportunities. Radiology 244:325–328, 2007
Bastião L, Santos M, Costa C, Silva A, Rocha N: Dicoogle statistics: analyzing efficiency and service quality of digital imaging laboratories. Springer, Heildelberg, 2013
Santos M, Basti??o L, Costa C, Silva A, Rocha N: DICOM and clinical data mining in a small hospital PACS: a pilot study: Springer Berlin Heidelberg, 2011
Valente F, Costa C, Silva A: Dicoogle, a Pacs featuring profiled content based image retrieval. PLoS One 8, e61888, 2013
Viana-Ferreira C, Costa C, Oliveira JL: Dicoogle relay-a cloud communications bridge for medical imaging, 2012
Viana-Ferreira C, Ferreira D, Valente F, Monteiro E, Costa C, Oliveira JL: Dicoogle mobile: a medical imaging platform for Android. Stud Health Technol Inform 180:502, 2012
Silva LAB, Ribeiro LS, Santos M, Neves N, Francisco D, Costa C, Oliveira JL: Normalizing heterogeneous medical imaging data to measure the impact of radiation dose. J Digit Imaging 1–13, 2015
Bastiao Silva L, Beroud L, Costa C, Oliveira JL: Medical imaging archiving: a comparison between several NoSQL solutions. In Biomedical and Health Informatics (BHI), 2014 IEEEEMBS International Conference on (pp. 65–68). IEEE. (2014, June)
Monteiro EJ, Costa C, Oliveira JL: A DICOM viewer based on web technology
Wang S, et al: An automated DICOM database capable of arbitrary data mining (including radiation dose indicators) for quality monitoring. J Digit Imaging 24:223–233, 2011
Santos M, Bastião L, Costa C, Silva A, Rocha N: DICOM and clinical data mining in a small hospital PACS: a pilot study: Springer Berlin Heidelberg, 2011
Santos M, de Francesco S, Silva LAB, Silva A, Costa C, Rocha N: Multi vendor DICOM metadata access—a multi site hospital approach using Dicoogle, 2013
Ratib O, Rosset A, Heuberger J: Open Source software and social networks: disruptive alternatives for medical imaging. Eur J Radiol 78:259–265, 2011
Choudhri A, Radvany M: Initial experience with a handheld device digital imaging and communications in medicine viewer: OsiriX mobile on the iPhone. J Digit Imaging 24:184–189, 2011
Camarlinghi N, et al: Combination of computer-aided detection algorithms for automatic lung nodule identification. Int J Comput Assist Radiol Surg 7:455–464, 2012
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Valente, F., Silva, L.A.B., Godinho, T.M. et al. Anatomy of an Extensible Open Source PACS. J Digit Imaging 29, 284–296 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10278-015-9834-0
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10278-015-9834-0