A DIGITAL PICTURE DATABASE - EXPERIENCE A FTER 18 MONTHS OF PRACTICALAPPLICATION

The simultaneous availability of clinical data and radiographs for ort hopedic or traumatology studies is still unsatisfactory. The retrieval of radiological files is especially time-consuming and costly. An exi sting database holding clinical data for about 2200 consecutive patien ts after pelvic or acetabular fractures (1972-1995) was supplemented b y integration of a commercially available picture data base. Data acqu isition is performed by a digital photocamera, which is easy to use an d provides sufficient resolution (1524x1012 pixels). The picture data are optimized but not compressed and, for example, an a.p. pelvic view requires only between 800 KB and 1.5 MB of storage room. Mass storage is performed first on magneto-optical discs and later for permanent s torage on CD-ROM. ''Clinical'' and picture databases are linked by a m acro, so the search functions of both databases are available. Thus th e clinical data for single patients or group of patients can be analyz ed parallel to the corresponding radiographs. By the use of a CD chang er, more than 4200 radiographs remain in immediate access. So far more than 3000 radiographs for 350 patients have been acquired, The qualit y was sufficient for even detailed subclassification and reclassificat ion procedures in over 95% of the cases. Using standard formats and in terfaces, the pictures can be either printed in photographic quality o r processed as slides for presentation, Using a standard format they h ave complete access to electronic publishing and mailing, The relative ly low price (20,000-30,000 DM) for the complete system and the exclus ive use of standard, commercially available hard and software componen ts provide an excellent price/quality relationship and make digital ra diograph storage now available for smaller working groups and institut ions.