PACS as part of the enterprise: impact of CORBA

Abstract

The Digital Imaging and COmmunications in Medicine (DICOM) standard focuses on the exchange of medical images and related data. DICOM takes into account existing standards for networks and the handling of information on such networks. As a result, disparate imaging systems from multiple vendors are now able to exchange messages between systems supporting the interchange of image sets. DICOM alone is insufficient for enabling highly scalable interoperability between heterogeneous, diverse, and geographically distributed information systems. Distributed object computing is a promising approach to alleviate the inherent complexities of distributed software systems. The purpose of this paper is to introduce the notion of DICOM-based Picture Archiving and Communications Systems (PACS) as an open subsystem to the health enterprise through the use of Common Object Request Broker Architecture (CORBA). This paper describes the proper positioning of DICOM in an enterprise environment, the synergy between DICOM and CORBA and advances the construct of CORBA as the potential interface standard of choice between PACS and the enterprise.