PACS FOR THORACIC IMAGING

许多因素在塑造当代 胸部放射学实践。首先，胸部影像数据是 日益数字化的本质，这使得定量的图像分析 一个实际的目标。第二，胸内放射科会诊 肿瘤学的多学科设置要求不断增加的 在内部对数据进行抽象、索引、链接和高效通信 一个分布式环境。尽管一些分析性的和 支持这些需求所需的信息管理工具已经存在， 在PACS的电子基础设施中，它们变得实用 临床上也是可以接触到的。我们建议扩展PACS的功能 超越其历史角色，以增强研究和临床需求 胸部影像通过提供：(1)图像分析工具来提取 来自与呼吸有关的图像数据的定量信息 功能和肿瘤体积；以及(2)基于PACS的信息 处理工具，用于集成所有与 癌症患者的管理。 这将通过开发基于PACS的分析软件来实现 解决气流病人的特殊生理问题 肿瘤测量的障碍及基于知识的方法 和肺活量。此外，肿瘤学成像时间线将是 为肺癌患者开发的索引具有诊断相关性 中的其他数据库中的文本和数字数据 电子病历。使用高级数据集成软件和 自动自由文本分析例程，多媒体摘要将 通过它可以有效地促进癌症患者的进步 被追踪到了。解决这些PACS应用将刺激在 当代PACS技术的结构，从网络到 从工作站设计到复杂的数据管理的策略。

A number of factors have been instrumental in shaping contemporary thoracic radiologic practice. First, thoracic imaging data is increasingly digital in nature, which has made quantitative image analysis a practical goal. Secondly, thoracic radiology consultation within the multidisciplinary setting of oncology demands that increasing amounts of data be abstracted, indexed, linked, and efficiently communicated within a distributed environment. Although some of the analytical and information management tools required to support these needs exist, it is within the electronic infrastructure of PACS that they become practical and clinically accessible. We propose to expand the capabilities of PACS beyond its historical role to enhance the research and clinical needs of thoracic imaging by providing: (1) image analysis tools to extract quantitative information from image data pertaining to respiratory function as well as tumor volumes; and (2) PACS-based information processing tools to integrate all of the multimedia data relevant to the management of cancer patients. This will be accomplished by developing PACS-based analytical software to address specific physiologic questions in patients with airflow obstruction as well as knowledge-based methods for the measure of tumor and lung volumes. In addition, an Oncology Imaging Time Line will be developed for lung cancer patients that indexes diagnostically relevant image data with textual and numerical data from other databases in the electronic medical record. Using advanced data integration software and automated free text analysis routines, a multimedia summary will be generated by which the progress of cancer patients can be efficiently tracked. Addressing these PACS applications will stimulate advances in the very fabric of contemporary PACS technology, ranging from network strategies to workstation design to sophisticated data management.