The operational impact of architectural alternatives for radiological imaging workstations

Characteristics of workstations for use in digital radiological imaging have been investigated for many years. However, much of this investigation has focused on the workstation in isolation, and has often been directed almost entirely at user interface issues. Certainly these issues are critical, but with the increasing use of commercial workstations it is important to look at the workstation in the context of the medical information environment and examine some important underlying characteristics required to meet the demands of digital radiology. This article examines the role of storage components in these workstations both architecturally and operationally. Both aspects are viewed with consideration of their impact on the internals of the workstation and its interaction with the external information system. By considering these aspects of the workstation it is apparent that local storage and image preloading are required to support diagnostic viewing. Additional operational and architectural strategies are required to efficiently manage information within the workstation.