Towards content-based image retrieval in a HIS-integrated PACS.

Development of a Picture Archiving and Communications System (PACS) with a large and diverse set of medical images will lead to large digital libraries that can be accessed to provide improved support for patient care, research and education. New representational and retrieval models for clinical images are required to address these issues. The PACS at the Georges Pompidou Hospital (GPH) is integrated in the hospital information system (HIS), and several modalities from medical imaging departments have been attached to it. The two main axes of the GPH PACS project were 1) HIS-integration to allow hospital-wide access to the images based on demographic and procedure-type information and 2) the development of content-based image retrieval to enhance the medical impact of image retrieval in daily practice.