i3Archive of Berwyn, PA, will demonstrate its National Digital Mammography Archive (NDMA), a digital mammography storage archive that involves the use of grid computing, in which computers are distributed over multiple locations across a region.
NDMA enables multiple institutions to securely store digital mammography images and clinical report data in a single centralized database. The concept gives radiologists access to prior and current digital images without the need for internal IT support staff, according to the company. It also eliminates the need for patients to carry mammography film or x-rays from specialist to specialist.
Images from an NDMA participating site are transferred to the NDMA over high-speed links, and access to images is only possible with the appropriate authorization and identification, according to the company. Images can be served based on an application service provider (ASP) basis, or from a 4-terabyte (TB) local archive. Specialists can also access image data within the NDMA via a secure Web-based viewing module called i3Now.
The system is based on a computing environment from computer giant IBM of Armonk, NY, which provides multiple levels of redundancy, according to i3Archive. In May 2004, i3Archive announced its first contract, with a radiology practice in Tucson, AZ.
By Kate Madden Yee
AuntMinnie.com staff writer
November 10, 2004
Copyright © 2004 AuntMinnie.com
