PACS for Multi‑slice CT -Seamless Integration Implementing 3D and 4D Workstations-

Introduction The introduction of multi-slice CT in 1998 represented a significant technological advance over single detector-row CT in the areas of scanning speed, volume coverage, and spatial and temporal resolution.1,2) The scanner has the capability of rapidly scanning a large longitudinal (z)volume with high z-axis resolution. One of the important advantages over conventional CT is the reduction of motion artifacts, providing good three-dimensional (3D)images. In contrast, the flood of both image data and films resulting from the acquisition of large numbers of thin-sliced images created a serious burden in image storage, cost management, and so on. Moreover, there is the problem of the increase in both the number of images and opportunities of imaging processing for 3D imaging-processed presentations.3) Some hospitals have installed picture archiving and communication systems (PACS)and evaluated the benefits from both the technical and economic aspects.4-8) However, the information presented in these studies did not deal with 3D or four-dimensional (4D)display, and analysis processed thousands of CT images for a single examination. The original contribution of our work is twofold. First, we developed an interactive network system for operating and processing the 3D and 4D images produced by multi-slice CT. Secondly, we constructed an original PACS(CT-PACS)for clinical, educational, and research-oriented systems. The integrated development environments (IDE)that facilitate implementation on the PACS platform were constructed with network programming. In this communication, we present Osaka University Hospital’s new multi-slice CT-related image network system and its informational background. Department of Radiology, Osaka University Hospital 1)Toshiba Medical Systems, Co. 2)Department of Medical Imaging Information, Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine 3)Department of Medical Physics, Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine 4)Department of Radiology, Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine Received Feb. 9, 2004