Design and Implementation of a Cloud PACS Architecture

The limitations of the classic PACS (picture archiving and communication system), such as the backward-compatible DICOM network architecture and poor security and maintenance, are well-known. They are challenged by various existing solutions employing cloud-related patterns and services. However, a...

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Main Authors: Jacek Kawa, Bartłomiej Pyciński, Michał Smoliński, Paweł Bożek, Marek Kwasecki, Bartosz Pietrzyk, Dariusz Szymański
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2022-11-01
Series:Sensors
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/22/21/8569
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author Jacek Kawa
Bartłomiej Pyciński
Michał Smoliński
Paweł Bożek
Marek Kwasecki
Bartosz Pietrzyk
Dariusz Szymański
author_facet Jacek Kawa
Bartłomiej Pyciński
Michał Smoliński
Paweł Bożek
Marek Kwasecki
Bartosz Pietrzyk
Dariusz Szymański
author_sort Jacek Kawa
collection DOAJ
description The limitations of the classic PACS (picture archiving and communication system), such as the backward-compatible DICOM network architecture and poor security and maintenance, are well-known. They are challenged by various existing solutions employing cloud-related patterns and services. However, a full-scale cloud-native PACS has not yet been demonstrated. The paper introduces a vendor-neutral cloud PACS architecture. It is divided into two main components: a cloud platform and an access device. The cloud platform is responsible for nearline (long-term) image archive, data flow, and backend management. It operates in multi-tenant mode. The access device is responsible for the local DICOM (Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine) interface and serves as a gateway to cloud services. The cloud PACS was first implemented in an Amazon Web Services environment. It employs a number of general-purpose services designed or adapted for a cloud environment, including Kafka, OpenSearch, and Memcached. Custom services, such as a central PACS node, queue manager, or flow worker, also developed as cloud microservices, bring DICOM support, external integration, and a management layer. The PACS was verified using image traffic from, among others, computed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance (MR), and computed radiography (CR) modalities. During the test, the system was reliably storing and accessing image data. In following tests, scaling behavior differences between the monolithic Dcm4chee server and the proposed solution are shown. The growing number of parallel connections did not influence the monolithic server’s overall throughput, whereas the performance of cloud PACS noticeably increased. In the final test, different retrieval patterns were evaluated to assess performance under different scenarios. The current production environment stores over 450 TB of image data and handles over 4000 DICOM nodes.
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spelling doaj.art-333ada1d2d584021b30ce49a55cec2212023-11-24T06:50:07ZengMDPI AGSensors1424-82202022-11-012221856910.3390/s22218569Design and Implementation of a Cloud PACS ArchitectureJacek Kawa0Bartłomiej Pyciński1Michał Smoliński2Paweł Bożek3Marek Kwasecki4Bartosz Pietrzyk5Dariusz Szymański6Radpoint Sp. z o.o., Ceglana 35, 40-514 Katowice, PolandFaculty of Biomedical Engineering, Silesian University of Technology, Roosevelta 40, 41-800 Zabrze, PolandRadpoint Sp. z o.o., Ceglana 35, 40-514 Katowice, PolandRadpoint Sp. z o.o., Ceglana 35, 40-514 Katowice, PolandRadpoint Sp. z o.o., Ceglana 35, 40-514 Katowice, PolandRadpoint Sp. z o.o., Ceglana 35, 40-514 Katowice, PolandRadpoint Sp. z o.o., Ceglana 35, 40-514 Katowice, PolandThe limitations of the classic PACS (picture archiving and communication system), such as the backward-compatible DICOM network architecture and poor security and maintenance, are well-known. They are challenged by various existing solutions employing cloud-related patterns and services. However, a full-scale cloud-native PACS has not yet been demonstrated. The paper introduces a vendor-neutral cloud PACS architecture. It is divided into two main components: a cloud platform and an access device. The cloud platform is responsible for nearline (long-term) image archive, data flow, and backend management. It operates in multi-tenant mode. The access device is responsible for the local DICOM (Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine) interface and serves as a gateway to cloud services. The cloud PACS was first implemented in an Amazon Web Services environment. It employs a number of general-purpose services designed or adapted for a cloud environment, including Kafka, OpenSearch, and Memcached. Custom services, such as a central PACS node, queue manager, or flow worker, also developed as cloud microservices, bring DICOM support, external integration, and a management layer. The PACS was verified using image traffic from, among others, computed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance (MR), and computed radiography (CR) modalities. During the test, the system was reliably storing and accessing image data. In following tests, scaling behavior differences between the monolithic Dcm4chee server and the proposed solution are shown. The growing number of parallel connections did not influence the monolithic server’s overall throughput, whereas the performance of cloud PACS noticeably increased. In the final test, different retrieval patterns were evaluated to assess performance under different scenarios. The current production environment stores over 450 TB of image data and handles over 4000 DICOM nodes.https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/22/21/8569cloudcloud storagepicture archiving and communication systemvendor neutral archivemedical imaging
spellingShingle Jacek Kawa
Bartłomiej Pyciński
Michał Smoliński
Paweł Bożek
Marek Kwasecki
Bartosz Pietrzyk
Dariusz Szymański
Design and Implementation of a Cloud PACS Architecture
Sensors
cloud
cloud storage
picture archiving and communication system
vendor neutral archive
medical imaging
title Design and Implementation of a Cloud PACS Architecture
title_full Design and Implementation of a Cloud PACS Architecture
title_fullStr Design and Implementation of a Cloud PACS Architecture
title_full_unstemmed Design and Implementation of a Cloud PACS Architecture
title_short Design and Implementation of a Cloud PACS Architecture
title_sort design and implementation of a cloud pacs architecture
topic cloud
cloud storage
picture archiving and communication system
vendor neutral archive
medical imaging
url https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/22/21/8569
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AT marekkwasecki designandimplementationofacloudpacsarchitecture
AT bartoszpietrzyk designandimplementationofacloudpacsarchitecture
AT dariuszszymanski designandimplementationofacloudpacsarchitecture