Exploitin Databasetechnology I! in T E Medical Arena

P icture Archiving and Communications Systems (PACS) are the backbone of the totally digital radiology department. They supply the communications, storage, and user-interface. PACS attempts to utilize computing power to increase the efficiency of the radiology department in a cost-effective manner. In this article, we describe the system, and the complications of database design and communications constraints. We conclude with a discussion of future research that should be addressed to further PACS. Included is a brief description of the functions and advantages of a commercial PACS system called CommView@. Lynn Allen AT8T B e l l l a b o r a t o r i e s