STORAGE AND PRESENTATION OF IMAGES

The concept of a Picture Archiving and Communication System (PACS) and its state of realization in the world involving USA, Europe and Japan is presented. As examples, MDIS in USA, EurIPACS in Europe and Osaka University in Japan will be reported. The question of to what extent t he technical problems in realization of PACS have been overcome and ar e expected to be overcome in the near future is raised and discussed. As an example of technological difficulties, the problem of rapid exch ange of image files between institutions will be mentioned. The positi on of medical images in the efficacy of diagnosis in hospitals will be also discussed. The integration of PACS with the Radiological Informa tion System (RIS) and HIS is discussed. The technology assessment of P ACS is going to be an important theme of study and investigation. An e xample of quantitative measurement of pre-post PACS/RIS/HIS is include d.