Object oriented teleconsultations in global PACS using multi-thread Java

Designing an integrated portable, object oriented, real time multimedia remote consultation and diagnosis (RCD), or teleconsultations, for Global PACS (GPACS) has been a challenge for the past years. There are many specialties in the medical environment, generating multimedia information. During a diagnosis, physicians may need to refer to other cases, medical references and other doctors. Continuing education and exchanging experience among doctors are critical to improve the quality of diagnosis. There is a need to have a viewing workstation serving different purposes in a heterogeneous medical environment. This viewing workstation must be portable and flexible to be adjusted easily. Object oriented analysis, design and implementation can be used to achieve this goal. Object oriented Java is portable across several platforms. It has a GUI (graphic user interface) package, a network package, a Web package, a security package and a thread package. Multiple Java threads play roles in providing faster response. Common objects are designed and implemented for RCD. The GUI part can be customized to fit different purposes. The paper focuses on object oriented design and Java technology for RCD in Global PACS