Abstract
This paper reports the design and implementation of an innovative and cost-effective imaging management infrastructure suitable for radiology centres in emerging countries. It was implemented in the main referring hospital of Bhutan equipped with a CT, an MRI, digital radiology, and a suite of several ultrasound units. They lacked the necessary informatics infrastructure for image archiving and interpretation and needed a system for distribution of images to clinical wards.The solution developed for this project combines several open source software platforms in a robust and versatile archiving and communication system connected to analysis workstations equipped with a FDA-certified version of the highly popular Open-Source software. The whole system was implemented on standard off-the-shelf hardware.The system was installed in three days, and training of the radiologists as well as the technical and IT staff was provided onsite to ensure full ownership of the system by the local team. Radiologists were rapidly capable of reading and interpreting studies on the diagnostic workstations, which had a significant benefit on their workflow and ability to perform diagnostic tasks more efficiently. Furthermore, images were also made available to several clinical units on standard desktop computers through a web-based viewer.Messages/teaching points• Open source imaging informatics platforms can provide cost-effective alternatives for PACS• Robust and cost-effective open architecture can provide adequate solutions for emerging countries• Imaging informatics is often lacking in hospitals equipped with digital modalities
Highlights
Thimphu, Bhutan 3 Imagerie & Développement (ID), Geneva, Switzerland 4 La Tour Réseau de Soins, Geneva, Switzerland 5 Department of Medical Imaging and Information Sciences, Division of Nuclear Medicine, Rue Gabrielle-Perret-Gentil 4, 1211 Geneve 14, SwitzerlandDigital imaging modalities are becoming more widely available even in remote areas of emerging countries extending the capabilities of these areas to provide higher quality of care and diagnostic capabilities locally
Besides the physical dispersion of these devices requiring radiologists to move from one unit to another to review and interpret the studies, it has a significant impact on the workflow and efficiency of radiologists in their daily tasks
Technical support engineers from the different imaging equipment companies were available on site or remotely through phone communication for configuring the imaging modalities to connect to the PACS server and viewing workstations through standard DICOM protocols
Summary
Digital imaging modalities are becoming more widely available even in remote areas of emerging countries extending the capabilities of these areas to provide higher quality of care and diagnostic capabilities locally While most of these centres can afford state-of-the-art imaging equipment, they often lack the needed IT infrastructures to manage and distribute the digital imaging data. Adding these informatics infrastructures will add a significant cost in the context of limited budgets, assigning priorities to medical equipment needed for patient care and for diagnostic services This often leaves the users and care providers with limited resources for Insights Imaging (2016) 7:747–753 proper management of digital imaging data. While the hospital is equipped with a secure local area network, it lacks the proper software and infrastructure to provide access to imaging data in a cost effective and easy way
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