subject: Scaleable Pacs System Components For Your Medical Facility [print this page] Scaleable PACS systems are versatile enough to work in a wide variety of medical clinics, imaging centers and hospitals, and they bring efficiency and affordability to the production and processing of digital medical images in the DICOM format. PACS radiology systems typically include several pieces that play important roles in viewing, storing and distributing digital medical studies.
PACS systems were once only used by large hospitals, primarily because the cost was too high for smaller medical clinics. But over time the cost of personal computers and software has declined significantly, and this, along with advances in digital medical computer technologies, has allowed for the creation and manufacture of scaleable PACS software and hardware appliances suitable for small- and mid-sized medical offices.
For viewing digital images, you will want to create a clinical workstation. This will utilize a personal computer that is loaded with your PACS system, along with PACS monitors. PACS monitors are essentially high-end graphics monitors that are of medical grade and suited for the purpose of viewing digital medical images in DICOM format. PACS monitors are available in a range of sizes, so that full-scale chest x-rays and beyond may be effectively viewed on them.
Another helpful component that a PACS radiology system will often use is a server. The PACS radiology server can store your digital image studies, and it also allows authorized personal computers to run queries and retrieve images, making the entire system more efficient. The PACS system can also be used as a router, so that if your system is web-based you can make sure that local-area networks, wide-area networks and virtual private networks can all access the digital images stored on the server at the same time, vastly improving office and network productivity in a busy medical clinic environment.
When your PACS system is web-based, it also allows for the speedy distribution of digital images. Referring and consulting physicians can essentially email the important digital medical studies to one another, enhancing patient care because of the speed of the transfer of information. When time is crucial for saving patients lives, this element alone makes the scaled system a worthwhile investment for medical facilities of all sizes and all specialities.
You can learn more about how PACS systems can be scaled to meet your unique medical clinic needs by visiting a digital medical imaging distributor online.
