New Open Protocols Look Set to Eliminate Image Transfer on CDs

Transferring medical images in this all-digital age often continues to rely on cumbersome compact discs. Help is on the way, promises Chris Lindop, who heads the Interoperability & Standards Group for GE Healthcare and is the lead author for a new integration profile in the final stages of development with the open-source association Integrating the Healthcare Enterprise (IHE).

"This is the CD Buster that will give you access to images when you want, where you want on any system capable of pulling DICOM data," Lindop promised during the IHE European Connectathon held from 11 to 14 April.

Cross-Community Access for Imaging (XCA-I) is expected to be integrated by vendors into both PACS and vendor-neutral imaging software by the end of this year. These new systems will be validated in interoperability testing at the IHE North American Connectathon in Chicago in January 2012. The new capability will progressively become available for upgrades to existing imaging systems after this testing, though some vendors can be expected to informally demonstrate the new transfer features at the RSNA meeting in Chicago in November 2011.