PACS software developer DR Systems announced that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has re-examined and reallowed a patent on PACS hanging protocols that the company has been asserting against a number of its competitors.
DR Systems said that the USPTO reaffirmed U.S. Patent No. 5,452,416, which was originally issued to the firm in 1995 and describes automated systems and methods for organizing, presenting, and manipulating medical images. The company in recent years has filed suit against other PACS firms, charging them with violating the patent.
DR Systems said it received a re-examination certificate from the USPTO on April 26; the patent also describes features implemented in the company's new Unity v|Series PACS software.
In other news, DR Systems announced that it is planning to launch a cloud-based electronic health record (EHR) for imaging centers. The EHR will be vendor-neutral and can be used with any RIS, HIS, or cardiovascular information system (CVIS) as a Web-service plug-in or on a standalone basis.
The EHR will also be integrated with DR Systems' Unity RIS-CVIS-PACS-reporting platform to eliminate duplicate data entry, the company said.
