This new Second Edition addresses the latest in picture archiving and communications systems (PACS), from the electronic patient record to the full range of topics in digital imaging. In contrast to the previous edition, this updated text uses the framework of image informatics, not physics or engineering principles, to explain PACS. This book is the only resource that thoroughly covers the critical issues of hardware/software design and implementation in a systematic and easily comprehensible manner. The new edition features additional chapters on web-based PACS, security, integrating the healthcare enterprise, clinical management systems, and the electronic patient record. It addresses how PACS can improve workflow, therapy, and treatment, and discusses integration of PACS in hospitals. Offering a clear guide for those purchasing and installing PACS, it is written in clear, non-technical language by a widely acknowledged pioneer in the field and does not assume advanced knowledge of physics, engineering, or math principles. The text also contains substantive new treatment of key topics in image informatics, including light imaging, digital radiography, teleconsultation, and image archive servers.

Table of Contents

Foreword.Preface.Preface to the First Edition.Acknowledgements.List of Acronyms.PART I: MEDICAL IMAGING PRINCIPLES.1. Introduction.2. Digital Medical Imaging Fundamentals.3. Digital Radiography.4. Computed Tomography, Magnetic Resonance, Ultrasound, Nuclear Medicine, and Light Imaging.5. Image Compression.PART II: PACS FUNDAMENTALS.6. Picture Archiving and Communiccation System Components and Work Flow.7. Industrial Standards (HL7 and DICOM) and Work Flow Protocols (IHE). 8. Image Acquisition Gateway.9. Communications and Networking.10. PACS Controller and Image Archive Server.11. Display Workstation.12. Integration of HIS, RIS, PACS, and ePR.PART III: PACS OPERATION.13. PACS Data Management and Web-based Image Distribution.14. Telemedicine and Teleradiology.15. Fault-Tolerant PACS.16. Image/Data Security.17. PACS Clinical Implementation, Acceptance, Data Migration, and Evaluation.18. PACS Clinical Experience, Pitfalls, and Bottlenecks.PART IV: PACS-BASED IMAGING INFORMATICS.19. PACS-Based Medical Imaging Informatics.20. PACS as a Decision Support Tool.21. ePR-Based PACS Application Servers for Other Medical Specialities.22. New Directions in PACS Learning and PACS-Related Training.PART V: ENTERPRISE PACS.23. Enterprise PACS.References.PACS and Imaging Information Glossary.Index.

Author Biography

H.K. Huang, D.Sc., FRCR (Hon.), is Professor and Director of Informatics in the Department of Radiology at the Children's Hospital Los Angeles, University of Southern California. He also holds the position of Chair and Professor of Medical Informatics at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, and is Honorary Professor at the Shanghai Institute of Technical Physics, The Chinese Academy of Sciences. Dr. Huang is a pioneer in picture archiving and communication system (PACS) research. He is a consultant to numerous hospitals worldwide for developing PAC systems. Dr. Huang has been awarded honorary fellowships by the Royal College of Radiologists (UK), the American Institute of Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE), and the EuroPACS Society.