Storage and distribution of pathology digital images using integrated web-based viewing systems.

CONTEXT Health care providers have expressed increasing interest in incorporating digital images of gross pathology specimens and photomicrographs in routine pathology reports. OBJECTIVE To describe the multiple technical and logistical challenges involved in the integration of the various components needed for the development of a system for integrated Web-based viewing, storage, and distribution of digital images in a large health system. DESIGN An Oracle version 8.1.6 database was developed to store, index, and deploy pathology digital photographs via our Intranet. The database allows for retrieval of images by patient demographics or by SNOMED code information. SETTING The Intranet of a large health system accessible from multiple computers located within the medical center and at distant private physician offices. RESULTS The images can be viewed using any of the workstations of the health system that have authorized access to our Intranet, using a standard browser or a browser configured with an external viewer or inexpensive plug-in software, such as Prizm 2.0. The images can be printed on paper or transferred to film using a digital film recorder. Digital images can also be displayed at pathology conferences by using wireless local area network (LAN) and secure remote technologies. CONCLUSIONS The standardization of technologies and the adoption of a Web interface for all our computer systems allows us to distribute digital images from a pathology database to a potentially large group of users distributed in multiple locations throughout a large medical center.

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