The PACS concept of the University of Regensburg

Aim: Planning a PACS (Picture Archiving and Communication System) with the aim of a filmless hospital. The service for the referring physicians should be optimised. Methods: Statistical analysis of data from the RIS (Radiological Information System), customer survey, workflow analysis and cost effectiveness analysis was the basis for planning the PACS. Results: The calculated data quantity of the institute is 6.2 gigabyte per day or 1.7 terabyte per year. The referring physicians wanted to have the examination in 93 % of the cases on the same day. For 53 % of the cases remote studies were necessary for reading. Only 2.3 % of these pictures were older than two years. The organisation of the department makes it necessary to have access to the examination of all modalities from each diagnosis workstation. Conclusions: Due to specific attributes of the institute, a fast nearline archive, a clustering of the diagnosis workstations and a DICOM based picture distribution were planned.