Kodak shows miniPACS for echo at AHA meeting

Kodak shows miniPACS for echo at AHA meeting

Eastman Kodak displayed a new echocardiography miniPACS workstation as a work-in-progress at last month's American Heart Association meeting in Dallas. The as-yet-unnamed system is designed to provide echocardiography labs with an integrated image and information management system, according to Dennis Schubert, director of the worldwide echocardiography business for the Rochester, NY, company.

The new workstation is based on the Windows NT operating system and features support for the DICOM 3.0 standard throughout, Schubert said. These properties differentiate the workstation from Access, Kodak's radiology ultrasound miniPACS workstation, which is based on the OS/2 operating system and was developed before DICOM 3.0 was ratified. The new echo workstation also features reporting and database software developed in cooperation with the Mayo Clinic in Rochester.

Kodak hopes to have the workstation in beta testing in the second quarter of 1999, Schubert said. Eventually, Kodak could replace Access with the new echo miniPACS, which would probably be more attractive to potential purchasers due to its NT platform. Kodak might also expand the workstation to support other cardiac imaging modalities.