Biomedical subjects

T Bazzill

Publications and source records attributed to T Bazzill.

4 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed1996

Design and implementation of a picture archiving and communication system: the second time.

This report describes the authors' experience in the design and implementation of two large scale picture archiving and communication systems (PACS) during the past 10 years. The first system, which is in daily clinical operation was developed at University of California, Los Angeles from 1983 to 1992. The second system, which continues evolving, has been in development at University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) since 1992. The report highlights the differences between the two systems and points out the gradual change in the PACS design concept during the past 10 years from a closed architecture to an open hospital-integrated system. Both systems focus on system reliability and data integrity, with 24-hour on-line service and no loss of images. The major difference between the two systems is that the UCSF PACS infrastructure design is a completely open architecture and the system implementation uses more advanced technologies in computer software, digital communication, system interface, and stable industry standards. Such a PACS can withstand future technology changes without rendering the system obsolete, an essential criterion in any PACS design.

Diagnostic Imaging↗

PubMed1995

Asynchronous transfer mode technology for radiologic image communication.

Image communication is an important component in picture archiving and communication systems (PACS) and teleradiology applications. Currently, local area networks (LANs) and wide area networks (WANs) use different technologies for image communication. Asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) is an emerging technology that can be used for both LANs and WANs. This article describes experimental results using an ATM network to transmit CT scans and digitized radiographs between the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) and Mount Zion Hospital, an affiliated community hospital in the San Francisco Bay area. The WAN connection between the two hospitals is via an ATM main switch at Pacific Bell, a local communication carrier located in Oakland, CA, which uses single-mode optical fibers. Preliminary results show that, using the ATM Optical Carrier Level 3 (OC3) (155 Mbits/sec) specification, it takes 1.3 sec and 2.7 sec to transmit a 10-Mbyte digitized radiograph and a 20-Mbyte CT scan, respectively, between the two locations. Encouraged by these results, we have designed and implemented an ATM WAN and LAN between UCSF and Mount Zion Hospital. This is the first of a three-phase project of installing a WAN serving four hospitals and one clinic in the San Francisco Bay area.

Computer Communication Networks↗

PubMed1992

A fiber-optic broadband CT/MR video communication system.

Our department operates three magnetic resonance (MR) and three computed tomography (CT) scanners that are located in three different buildings up to 2 km apart. We have designed and implemented a multichannel, fiber-optic broadband video communication system as a remote scanner monitoring network. This system consists of baseband and broadband fiberoptic transmitters, receivers, and multiplexers. The structure of the video network is supported by two strategically located headends (distributors) connecting local/remote scanners and monitoring stations. The system is capable of serving up to 5 km from each headend. The video signal from each scanner is sent through a baseband fiber-optic link to a headend, where it is frequency modulated, multiplexed with other scanner video signals, and distributed over broadband fiber-optic links to monitoring stations. Each receiver consists of a demodulator, a channel selectable tuner, and a video monitor. The current design provides up to 16 scanner channels and 16 remote monitoring station connections. Monitoring stations are placed in 14 clinical locations including the following reading rooms: thoracic, neuro, abdomen, musculoskeletal, gastrointestinal, genitourinary, and pediatric radiology. A radiologist can use any of these 14 monitoring stations to view a patient's CT/MR images in real-time as they appear on any of the six scanner consoles. By selecting the proper channel assigned to a patient's scanner, the radiologist may monitor the examination while using the telephone to communicate with the technologist at the scanner site. This fiber-optic broadband video communication system has been integrated into daily clinical use for over 6 months.

Computer Communication Networks↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Methods of automatically acquiring images from digital medical systems.

Automated image acquisition plays an important role in a picture archiving and communication system (PACS). However, there is no single solution for automated data acquisition from existing digital medical imaging systems. We have gained a great deal of experience on automatic acquiring data by interfacing imaging scanners of major manufacturers. In this paper, we categorize the interface methods supported by the current image scanners. This categorization consists of five architectural models: (a) sequential chain; (b) direct interface; (c) memory access; (d) shared disk; and (e) interconnected network. The cost, rate of data transfer, and ease of implementation of each model are discussed. To ensure the integrity and availability of patient images in a PACS system, automated fault tolerance design in image acquisition is required. Based upon our field data, we report common scenarios which cause the acquisition to fail. We also describe techniques employed to automatically restart the operations which include recovery from acquisition processes' errors and traps, image acquisition computer down-time occurrence, and shutdown occurrence of medical imaging system.

Automation↗