Experience implementing a DICOM 3.0 multivendor teleradiology network.

Objective The ISIS Center at Georgetown University received a grant from the U.S. Army to act as systems integrator for a project to design, develop, and implement a commercial off-the-shelf teleradiology system to support the U.S. troops in Bosnia-Herzegovina. The goal of the project was to minimize troop movement while providing primary diagnosis to military personnel. This paper focuses on Digital Imaging Communications in Medicine (DICOM) 3.0 related issues that arose from this type of teleradiology implementation. The objective is to show that using the DICOM standard provides a good starting point for systems integration but is not a plug-and-play operation. Methods Systems were purchased that were based on the DICOM 3.0 standard. The modalities implemented in this effort were computed radiography (CR), computed tomography (CT), film digitization (FD), and ultrasonography (US). Dry laser printing and multiple-display workstations were critical components of this network. The modalities and output de...