The DICOM Viewer: Modern, Efficient and Economical

                                                                                         

The DICOM Viewer is one solution to the escalating cost of health care. Consider the amount of money that medical institutions and clinics spend processing and archiving images such as x-rays, CAT scans and MRIs – not to mention the costs associated with transferring such images when pathologists and other medical personnel require consultation with colleagues in distant locations – and the savings will become apparent. The reason is that the DICOM Viewer is a format that is web-based and cross-platform.

No More Development Costs

One major expense (not to mention a hazard) that hospitals and other health care facilities face is the development process for many medical images. Like traditional photographs, x-rays require expensive and toxic chemicals, not to mention darkroom facilities and storage space. With the web-based DICOM viewer, x-rays and other types of medical images can be stored on a web server, hard drive or portable media such as DVDs. Another advantage of the web-based DICOM viewer is that it allows these images to be shared online over an intranet or the Internet and viewed on any computer monitor – anywhere in the world.


What It Is

A PACS DICOM viewer is a software application that runs on Windows, Mas OS and Linux. The first two words are acronyms that refer to the two elements of the system; “PACS” stands for Picture Archive and Communication System, and “DICOM” is short for Digital Image and COMmunication in Medicine. The latter is really nothing more than an image file format similar to the common “.jpeg” and “.gif” images used on websites; the difference is that DICOM was developed to meet the demands of the medical profession. This specific format is why a special PACS DICOM viewer is necessary. Fortunately, the cost is much less than you would expect.


What Is an “Efilm DICOM Viewer” ?

Because it is software, there are several different DICOM viewers available. Some can be downloaded free on the Internet; however, these may not include the most advanced features that are necessary for today's cutting-edge diagnostics, and usually do not offer technical support.

The Efilm DICOM Viewer from Merge Healthcare, Inc. is one of the most advanced and widely-used PACS DICOM viewers in the health care industry. Priced within the reach of the most modest clinics, the Efilm DICOM Viewer includes many options and tools not available woth other PACS DIMCOM viewers; you can learn more about this application by clicking on the “DICOM Viewers” link under the “View” menu on the left hand side of your screen.

The Time Is Now

PACS DICOM viewers are not new; the roots of this remarkable technology go back to the early 1980s. However, until recently, hardware costs and incompatibility made it difficult for small clinics and private practices. With the drop in the cost of computer hardware and increase in computing power, this technology is now readily available to the entire profession.

About the author:
In this article Jonathon Blocker writes about the web based dicom viewer.

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