InfoRad showcases ambitious Army PACS
and teleradiology project
BY BRENDA TILKE
Intranet will link 10 hospitals to improve
staffing and image availability
An ambitious project led by Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, TX, will create a "Virtual Radiology Environment" using PACS and teleradiology to link mid-west VA facilities. At the RSNA InfoRad, details of the project are on display and staff from the participating facilities are on hand to explain them.
With VRE, Brooke Army Medical Center will serve as the center of a hub and spoke network. IBM and Agfa have been selected as the network's two PACS vendors.
According to Brooke Army staff, two of the 10 hospitals have PACS in place, with all 10 to have PACS by mid-1999. The intranet between the 10 hospitals also should be set up by next year. Software for the network's management is still being written with a prototype to be ready next summer and the final version ready within two to five years. VRE will help the 10 hospitals, which comprise the Great Plains Regional Medical Command, to improve radiology education and staffing.
Other companies participating in the project are providing cutting edge imaging equipment, including direct-to-digital radiography from Sterling.
Flat-panel image displays play a key role in the VRE system. The gray-scale panel offers 18.1" viewable image sie with 1280 by 1024 resolution and16.7M shades of gray. The color imaging flat panel has a 20.8" viewable image with 2048 by 1536 resolution, 122 pixels per inch.
Sterling's direct to digital radiography component eliminates scintillators and phosphors with no image degradation. The company has modified an x-ray table to allow direct radiography Bucky assembly and an existing x-ray generator.
The military has taken a leading role in PACS development and implementation. With the VRE project, it plans to expand its leadership to intranet communication and digital image quality management.
