Design and implementation of a robust, high-availability DICOM print network in a large, multimodality clinical environment

摘要

This work will describe the implementation of a highly reliable DICOM print network at our institution. The system was designed to provide DICOM print services to many modalities, allowing customized LUT assignments either by calling AET or by special request from the modality. The system was implemented on a small scale with hardware from three different manufacturers (Agfa/Sterling, Kodak, and Fuji) for evaluation purposes. Our experiences with each system will be presented. The final configuration (Fuji PS551/DPL) was scaled up to meet the needs for hard copy production in our busy (300,000 exams/year) clinical operation. Quality control is accomplished via automatic (chron job) initiation of DICOM print jobs from a Unix-based workstation or by manual initiation from one of several PC's utilizing e-Film's~(TM) DICOM print capabilities. Print servers are connected to multiple printers and are configured for automatic fail-over on printer error detection. Modalities are configured with dual ("Primary" and "Secondary") print destinations to allow manual redirection of print activity on print server error detection. As a result, the system provides an extremely high level of dependability. The printers also sort by AET so that the output from any given modality may be directed to a specific sorting bin, significantly reducing the effort needed to sort films and match with paperwork prior to hanging.