Helping people and pet chickens, PACS solutions are gaining market share

While picture archiving and communication systems (PACS) are becoming popular with medical practitioners, veterinarians are also jumping on the bandwagon. Americans have come to expect that the same services they are offered by their doctors should be available for their pets. The American Animal Hospital Association (AAHA) reports estimates for the US veterinary service industry of $20 billion, and clearly some vets believe that the initial outlay of $50,000 and $150,000 for digital radiography. PACS imaging systems adds value to their practices.

The question of whether digital radiography technology can work on all sizes of dogs was answered by John Endres, DVM when he imaged a deep-chested Doberman. He reports that “I worried about getting a good look at the structures of the midchest when I knew we would have to burn through the lungs. But everything turned out well.”

Dr. Steve Franquelin, the resident veterinarian behind the pro bono Calistoga Pet Clinic was able to locate a 3-inch wood crew just before it perforated the wall of a pet chicken’s gizzard.
“To a lot of people, this is just a pickin’ chicken,” said Dr. Franquelin, “But for someone else this chicken is a beloved pet and worth spending the money on to help it get better.’

Best-in-Class Picture Archiving and Communication System Providers:

• Provide electronic image integration platform to enable interfacing with Hospital Information System (HIS), Electronic Medical Record (EMR), Practice Management Software and Radiology Information System (RIS)
• Use DICOM standards which allow images to be shared with anyone with a DICOM viewer
• Have off-site viewing and reporting capabilities for telediagnosis and distance education

Top Considerations Before Selecting Picture Archiving and Communication System Provider:

Even though the Security Rule's Administrative Safeguards section of HIPAA requires that PACS perform image backup, this functionality is not always embedded in the software, nor is it always done. There is more than one way to back-up your images but the key is not so much which method is used as the ease of use and degree of automation. Staff members are likely to “forget” to perform this job if it is too onerous because omission only comes to light in the event of a disaster.

Key Providers:

1. Hudson Digital Systems’ solutions include veterinary digital radiography and PACS systems. What sets Hudson apart is that its solutions combine in-house technology with what it believes are the “best technologies from around the world:” customized software is in-house, low-dose charge couples devices are from Russia-based DIRA, low-dose silicon flat panel detectors from France-based Thales Electron Devices, computed radiography products from Fujifilm, Custom image processing modules from Swedish-based ContextVision, radiography/x-ray system components from European and USA-based Control-X Medical. This company, head-quartered in West Paterson NJ, serves “the technologically progressive veterinary market.”

2. Acuo Technologies’ AcuoMed Image Manager is a secure, open-system software solution for transporting, storing, tracking and retrieving digital images across an entire DICOM network. It is a DICOM 3.0 Level 2 compliant server which uses Microsoft® Windows® 2000 or 2003 Server with Intel® or AMD as a platform. Acuo’s mission is to develop “the first enterprise-wide collaborative asset management solution for medical DICOM images residing in a Picture Archiving and Communications System (PACS) as well as Non-DICOM data.” This company was founded in 2000 and is headquartered in Bloomington MN.

3. BRIT Systems uses its solutions for Picture Archival and Communication Systems (PACS), radiology information system and teleradiology applications. These solutions, based on the latest DICOM standards, create what it calls a “Virtual Radiology Environment” in which medical images can be viewed at any time from multiple locations. The company describes its modular components as “flexible, upgradeable and scaleable.” PACS Tools include: CD Burner, Film Digitizer, DICOM Router, Web Enable PACS and QC Workbench.
This Dallas, Texas-based company has been in business since 1993.

4. Features of LEAD Technologies, Inc.’s LEADTOOLS PACS Imaging solution include: Medical Web Viewer Framework, high and low level PACS SCP and SCU functions and controls, DICOM PACS communication security, comprehensive full DICOM dataset support, 8-16 bit extended grayscale image support, image annotation, specialized extended grayscale image display such as window level and LUT processing, and specialized medical image processing. This privately held company was founded in 1990 and is headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Picture Archiving and Communication System
Definition: Picture archiving and communication systems provide storage, retrieval and transportation of images. Electronic picture archiving and communication systems (PACS) enable  economical storage, rapid retrieval and access to images acquired with multiple modalities, as well as  simultaneous access from several locations and digital transmission of electronic images and reports.