Development of tinyPACS: a distributed image database system under Apple Macintosh network

We have attempted to develop a medical image service system at the Miyazaki Medical College, Japan. This new system, unlike PACS, requires a certain level of image sharpness, with compacted data for practical medical use; it has improved slow response time, expensive running costs, and poor user interfaces. Regarding resolution, a picture is composed of 512x5l2 dots, making its bit depth 8 bits. As a result, a gray scale image requires 256KB, with 8 bits and color image 768KB respectively. Compacting the image data with QuickTime, the gray scale image occupies only 25KB and a color image 75KB. On the clinical terminals (Apple Macintosh), an image can be referred to by the doctor by typing the ID number of the patient. The picture resolution was evaluated as satisfactory for use in daily practice by doctors working here. The performance of tinyPACS and its future problems will be discussed.