With the digitization of medical imaging and the regulatory pressures of
HIPAA, healthcare providers are facing challenges in implementing a cost effective,
reliable and scalable data archiving and management solution. The need for
disaster recovery (DR) at both the hospital enterprise level as well as the
department level has also increased. The limitations and disadvantages of
data back-up solutions, such tape or CD/DVD are increasingly becoming apparent
as the volume of data, retention time and file sizes are all increasing in
unison. Disc-based archiving solutions providing always online access to images
combined with high availability is becoming the core part of a disaster recovery
strategy.
In 2005, Hurricane Katrina along the U.S. Gulf Coast as well as a number
of other natural disaster demonstrated that unforeseen events can create significant
disruptions in patient care and patient data integrity at large and small
healthcare enterprises. The lack of timely access to patient records and data
in the aftermath of any unforeseen event can result in dire unintended consequences
such as the loss of life. The widespread use of imaging technologies in medicine
for the timely diagnosis as well as treatment of various conditions, require
that medical images be readily available to healthcare providers at all times.
Disaster Recovery Solution: ImageGrid
DICOM Storage Server Appliance
The ImageGrid product line
by Candelis is a disk-based DICOM storage appliance with capacities ranging
from 1 terabyte (TB) to tens of terabytes. ImageGrid units are able to receive images
directly from any DICOM modality and provide immediate access to images from
any DICOM viewer and workstation.
ImageGrid's robust routing engine can automatically route images and studies
from a local ImageGrid to a remote ImageGrid unit over a high speed internet
connection. Figure 1 shows the deployment of a locally installed ImageGrid
and a remote ImageGrid as a cost effective image management and disaster recovery
solution.
Healthcare facilities with multiple locations can install their ImageGrid
1500 at a second location and connect the two units via a high speed T1 virtual
private network (VPN) connection.
Many well established telecommunications companies provide secure SAS-70
compliant data centers. ImageGrid customers wanting to archive a second copy
of their studies in a secure off-site location, can rent rack space at one
these secure site and have a duplicate copy of every study routed to the second
ImageGrid.
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