Authors (including presenting author) :
Tong CKS(1), Huang HYH(2), Lam D(3)
Affiliation :
(1)Medical Physics Department, Pamela Youde Nethersole Eastern Hospital (2)Radiology Department, Tseung Kwan O Hospital (3)Premier Medical Centre
Introduction :
Tseung Kwan O Hospital is not only the first filmless acute hospital in Hong Kong but also in Greater China. It has been operating in filmless mode since April 2003. It installed the first hospital Picture Archiving and Communication System (PACS), which is the essential technology in a filmless hospital, in 1999. Her design has been proved workable in Hong Kong’s hospital environment and was later adopted by other hospitals including Pamela Youde Nethersole Eastern Hospital in the Hospital Authority (HA). Even the recently installed PACSs in Tuen Mun Hospital and Hong Kong Children Hospital were still using a similar design.
Objectives :
The objective of this paper is to study the evolution of PACS design over the past 20 years in HA.
Methodology :
The basic design of a PACS includes the following components. Archive server, Database server, Broker for Radiology Information System (RIS) interfacing, short-term archive, long-term archive, Quality Control computers, Diagnostic workstations, and review workstations. The replacement cycle of a PACS in HA is about eight years. By studying the designs of PACSs and users’ benefits in various hospitals in 1999, 2008, and 2018, the pros and cons of various systems can be found.
Result & Outcome :
Server virtualization and load balancing technolgies has improved the reliablilty of PACS. The benefits of PACS to radiologists include providing central image archiving and teaching library, allowing remote consultation, image sharing and comparison. The efficiency and diagnostic accuracy of radiologists were improved. The PACS can benefit radiographers in less human input, less human error, higher efficiency, allowing mobile x-ray imaging, saving storage space, long term archiving and data security. The PACS also allows surgeons to do 3D medical imaging, image guided surgeries, and 3D Printing. High initial cost is the major drawback of a PACS project. The efficiency of PACS is essential to a filmless hospital. The technological trends of PACS are aiming to reduce downtime and avoid single point of failures.
Co-location with:
