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Development of a software for the exchange of electrophysiological data of vision with PACS systems based on DICOM
Author(s) -
STRASSER T,
AVCU S,
KONEV V,
KORKMAZ F,
MANAV E,
SCHRECK T,
TAUKOVIC M,
WILKE R,
ZRENNER E
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
acta ophthalmologica
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.534
H-Index - 87
eISSN - 1755-3768
pISSN - 1755-375X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1755-3768.2009.370.x
Subject(s) - dicom , computer science , software , picture archiving and communication system , service (business) , data exchange , protocol (science) , multimedia , database , medicine , artificial intelligence , operating system , pathology , alternative medicine , economics , economy
Purpose Digital imaging and communications in medicine (DICOM) is widely acknowledged as standard in medical informatics. It provides a communication protocol for interchange of diagnostic and therapeutic information, images, and any associated data. Medical devices with DICOM interfaces can be connected to share data. DICOM evolves continuously in supporting new modalities and services and now allows also the interchange of waveforms. In electrophysiology of vision however, storage and exchange of data is mostly based on proprietary protocols of device vendors. We developed a software for vendor neutral storage of electrophysiological data based on DICOM. Methods DICOM follows the object‐oriented paradigm and defines information object definitions (IODs), describing the type of data dealt with (e. g. CT image) as well as service classes (SC) specifying valid operations for specific IODs (e. g. store). SCs and IOPs form so called service object pairs (SOP). In this work, the IOD for waveform data was extended using private attributes as designated by the DICOM standard. A service class user (SCU) for the connection to a picture archiving and communication system (PACS) was developed. The software is based on the PixelMed Java DICOM Toolkit. Testing was done using dcm4chee as PACS. Results The software is integrated in Tuebingen ERG Explorer, allowing for submission of electrophysiological recordings to a PACS. It is used as a prototype at the University Eye Hospital Tuebingen. Conclusion We have introduced a IOD for storage of electrophysiological data of vision as a first step of integration into a distributed eHealth network, leveraging existing DICOM infrastructure like PACS.