Highlights of the Digital Imaging Network-Picture Archiving and Communications System project

Abstract

The Department of Defense issued its requirements for a Digital Imaging Network—Picture Archiving and Communications System (DIN-PACS) in a Request for Proposals to industry in January, 1997. The DIN-PACS shall be an open systems network of digital devices designed for the effective acquisition, transmission, display and management of diagnostic imaging studies. This network is primarily based on two international standards, Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine (DICOM) and Health Level 7 (HL7). The DIN-PACS is required to communicate in a bidirectional manner with the Department of Defense standard hospital information system called the Composite Health Care System (CHCS) through an HL7 compliant interface. The DIN-PACS model and its published specifications stress functionality and performance rather than system architecture to allow industry to propose optimal approaches for implementation. This paper discusses the functional requirements of the DIN-PACS in terms of its internal operations as well as its communication with external systems and components.