PACS and NAS - A Strategic Fit

Overview:

The challenge of handling large volumes of patient-related data and images has now outgrown traditional ways of dealing with such information. Sharing, retrieving, saving, and viewing high-resolution medical images (MRIs, X-rays, etc) in conjunction with corresponding patient information accurately and reliably every time demands technology like Picture Archive Communication System (PACS).

PACS serves as a constantly growing and evolving repository for medical images and patient information. Medical information can easily be stored, recalled, displayed, manipulated and printed digitally, greatly improving the efficiency of imaging departments. However, like most other applications designed for such specific purposes, PACS needs to be implemented effectively. Patient information requirements, such as storage, security, and retrieval should be determined in advance and matched with the most appropriate storage methods. Thus, health professionals have had electronic storage and access to medical diagnostic images, but the sheer volume of image data, in terms of generated images and size of image files, has always overloaded the capabilities of PACS. Not enough space and slow access has especially been a problem in long-term, large storage of images.

Image compression techniques have greatly enhanced the performance of PACS, substantially decreasing transmission times and storage requirements while permitting shorter retrieval times. This, coupled with a new generation NAS (Network Attached Storage), can provide a solid foundation for protecting, managing, and sharing individually identifiable health information for healthcare organizations.

Better performance at lower costs - that's the maxim that drives the new generation NAS devices. In that respect, they far outperform existing NAS devices. The total cost of ownership is now down to nearly one-tenth of legacy NAS devices. Network-efficient, File System Replication (FSR) technology, now standard on the new generation NAS, also offers superb protection against regional site disasters. These features and advantages make the new NAS tailor-made for the unique, specific needs of PACS.

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