Medical image databases and informatics

In order to make use of the overwhelming amount of clinical text and images and supporting information available for medical clinical practice and research, high level intelligence will be integrated into next-generation PACS in the following areas: computer-based decision support, in the development of intelligent user interfaces, in the federation of heterogeneous medical imaging databases, and for PACS operational improvement. Computer-based decision support will allow the knowledge and reasoning of an expert to be applied to procedure selection and diagnostic reasoning. Intelligent display interfaces will be user and context sensitive, allowing for enhanced utilization, efficiency and interpretation of findings. Integrated medical multimedia databases and the tools necessary to intelligently navigate and search through these databases will allow for improved disease detection, and patient treatment as well as generate substantial new medical knowledge. The intelligent optimization of PACS performance and reliability will allow the effective enterprise-wide management of widely distributed imaging networks.