[The pelvic digital image data bank. Experiences after 18 months in clinical practice]

The simultaneous availability of clinical data and radiographs for orthopedic or traumatology studies is still unsatisfactory. The retrieval of radiological files is especially time-consuming and costly. An existing database holding clinical data for about 2200 consecutive patients after pelvic or acetabular fractures (1972-1995) was supplemented by integration of a commercially available picture database. Data acquisition is performed by a digital photo camera, which is easy to use and provides sufficient resolution (1524 x 1012 pixels). The picture data are optimized but not compressed and, for example, an a.p. pelvic view requires only between 800 KB and 1.5 MB of storage room. Mass storage is performed first on magneto-optical discs and later for permanent storage on CD-ROM. "Clinical" and picture databases are linked by a macro, so the search functions of both databases are available. Thus the clinical data for single patients or group of patients can be analyzed parallel to the corresponding radiographs. By the use of a CD changer, more than 4200 radiographs remain in immediate access. So far more than 3000 radiographs for 350 patients have been acquired. The quality was sufficient for even detailed subclassification and reclassification procedures in over 95% of the cases. Using standard formats and interfaces, the pictures can be either printed in photographic quality or processed as slides for presentation. Using a standard format they have complete access to electronic publishing and mailing. The relatively low price (20,000-30,000 DM) for the complete system and the exclusive use of standard, commercially available hard and software components provide an excellent price/quality relationship and make digital radiograph storage now available for smaller working groups and institutions.