A Software Development and User Interface Rapid Prototyping Environment for Picture Archiving and Communication Systems (PACS)

One area of PACS research at the Georgetown University Medical Center, Department of Radiology, relates to the user interface of the PACS workstations. Other research areas include network simulation, data compression, digital radiology, image processing, and teaching workstation development. The major focus of this paper is a presentation of a PACS user interface issues, including what should be considered when designing a man- machine interface for a PACS workstation. A brief discussion of PACS requirements is presented, followed by the advantages and disadvantages of various interaction techniques and devices. Next, a set of requirements for a PACS user interface prototyping environment is specified. Finally, the hardware and software components of the Georgetown PACS research environment are presented. Both those components which are applicable to user interface prototyping and those used for other PACS-related projects are discussed.