Medical Imaging
Network attached optical storage lowers costs and speeds access to patient images
Over the last few years, as manufacturers and researchers around the world have taken digital x-ray detectors out of the lab and into clinical trials, it’s become clear that digital x-ray imaging will indeed revolutionize diagnostic radiology. In fact, many observers have hailed it as the most significant breakthrough in x-ray imaging in the last 25 years, referring to it as “The New Modality.”
Medical professionals today are faced with an increasing patient load and a commitment to reduce costs. At the same time, the availability of new, more sophisticated technology increases the tools they have to provide the best in health care. Access to critical patient data helps to improve patient care and diagnosis. While the medical team is working to provide effective patient care, this same team must also help to manage costs in this demanding and complex marketplace. It is not a trivial task. High density digital modalities CR, DR, MEG, mammography, cath lab, echocardiology and more are increasing the hospital’s archive requirements at a staggering rate–and that means increasing expense.
Automated, Network attached archive systems today cost fractions of a cent per megabyte and provide virtually unlimited capacities. Systems range in capacity from one TB to hundreds of TBs, enough for even the largest departments and hospitals to keep decades of studies and patient records on-line.
Electronic archiving of medical images from a busy department over many years will require dozens of terabytes (TBs) of digital storage and rapid access to all the images. Optical storage technologies are available today to store large amounts of image data. However, there are many tradeoffs and architectural considerations when designing an archive system. Recent advances in network attached storage technologies have drastically reduced the cost of storage as well as improved access performance, reliability and capacity.
When automated optical storage is enabled with StorageQuest’s; patented Multi-services Storage Manager (MSM) network appliance there is no longer a need to wait for a cost effective archive solution with the capacity to keep your entire medical image archive accessible, its here today!
How MSM Addresses IP-based Digital Medical Imaging Storage Requirements
StorageQuest’s MSM series of network attached appliances unify optical storage providing organizations with an integrated approach to streamlining IP-based Medical Imaging archive storage and reducing costs in FIVE ways:
1. Unified Storage
The MSM network appliance with Web-based management provides file-sharing and management from anywhere on the network. Investments in the build-out of storage area networks and infrastructures, to better manage information and storage costs, are fully leveraged through the MSM. By enabling any optical storage library to easily integrate into the corporate infrastructure, it allows any application fast and easy access to compliant storage resources.
2. Open Storage
The MSM utilizes industry standards such as: Universal Disc Format (UDF), Linux, TCP/IP, NFS, CIFS, HTTP, SNMP, SCSI, Gigabit Ethernet and iSCSI. Complete system transparency is achieved through the use of UDF which is fully supported by all major operating systems including: Windows, MAC/OS and UNIX providing a completely open and transportable archive solution. Information stored through the MSM onto optical media can be read by any of the aforementioned operating systems as a standard operation – no special drivers or additional software to purchase. Your archived data is free from vendor “lock-in” as nothing is proprietary. The MSM provides total freedom of choice for compliant archiving regardless of Vendor, Format or Media.
3. Simplified Storage Management
The MSM provides total management for all of your optical library resources through its powerful, yet easy to use, Web-based management and control system. The Graphical User Interface (GUI) guides you effortlessly from the installation of the optical library to configuring it and managing it from anywhere on the network or in the world! Truly a Plug-n-Play experience as within minutes applications are archiving and retrieving data from anywhere on the network.
4. Complete Storage Support
The MSM supports the complete range of optical media formats including: WORM, Magneto-Optical (MO), DVD-ROM, DVD-RAM, DVD-R, DVD+R, DVD-RW, DVD+RW, CCW,CD-ROM, CD-R, CD-RW as well as the latest advances in optical storage such as: Professional Disc for Data (PDD) by Sony and Ultra High Density (UDO) by Plasmon. The MSM also supports a wide range of optical libraries including: HP, Plasmon, IBM, Sony, ASACA, Pioneer, JVC and Kubota. A bright future in optical storage is assured as StorageQuest is working closely with industry visionaries such as InPhase Technologies’ 3D Holographic Storage and the Blu-ray Disc consortium. By providing our unified storage solution as these products come to market, it insures a compliant archiving roadmap for many years to come.
5. Low Cost Storage
The MSM lowers the total cost of compliant archival storage in several ways: Through its simple Plug-n-Play appliance model systems administrators can easily install, configure and manage optical library systems. There is no need for high level technical resources to be employed to support an MSM Archival system. The MSM enables the sharing of the optical storage resources throughout the network, amortizing the archival costs across many applications, thus lowering the total cost of ownership for compliant storage within the enterprise. The MSM lowers costs through the utilization of low cost optical storage. For example: a DVD-R library system using the UDF format enables any data archived on inexpensive DVD-R media to be read on any Windows, MAC/OS or UNIX system directly. Today’s systems have DVD drives already installed so there is no additional hardware or software to purchase. This totally open architecture greatly reduces long term storage costs and management, while eliminating the need for costly and risky data conversations from one system to another.