Dynamic DICOM configuration in a service-oriented medical device architecture

Area of Science:

• Medical Informatics
• Health Systems Engineering
• Networked Medical Devices

Background:

• Surgical interventions necessitate advanced medical device networking, including security and dynamic integration capabilities.
• Existing operating room (OR) networks often lack the flexibility for seamless, real-time device incorporation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate an integration solution for safe and dynamic networking of medical devices within the OR.
• To incorporate imaging devices into a plug-and-play OR network using the Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine (DICOM) protocol.

Main Methods:

• Utilized the existing DICOM protocol for integrating imaging devices.
• Developed an infrastructure within the OR.NET project for DICOM device integration.
• Employed a gateway approach for integrating existing DICOM devices, such as image archives.

Main Results:

• Demonstrated a viable approach for integrating DICOM devices into a dynamic OR network.
• Preliminary evaluations confirmed no critical transmission delays with the gateway implementation.

Conclusions:

• The proposed method enables dynamic, plug-and-play integration of imaging devices into OR networks.
• The approach supports both new DICOM devices and existing systems through a gateway, enhancing OR infrastructure flexibility.