DICOM-integration in a heterogeneous environment

DICOM applications often have to be included into heterogeneous environments and cannot be treated as standalone systems. We have developed a DICOM library that covers all aspects of communicating and storing images and patient related data. This includes retrieval from off-line storage as well as the integration of conventional ACR/NEMA datasets and their derivatives. In a prototypic implementation we used this library to build a database, which satisfies the requirements for archiving and retrieval of image data. By an interface based on the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), the contents of the database may be examined and associations explicitly requested. Currently, we are integrating DICOM applications into our existing Image Archiving and Hospital Information Systems, resulting in a hierarchy of a Meta Patient Record and dependent databases or applications