CHAPTER 12
Display Workstation
Among all PACS components, PACS display workstation (WS) is the one that all radiologists and clinicians are familiar with. PACS WSs in the radiology department have the highest quality allowing radiologists and clinicians to make primary diagnosis from the images compared with other peripheral workstations not within the radiology department. This section gives details of the WS design, hardware and software, ergonomics, features, utilization, and future development prospective. Figure 12.1 (excerpted from Fig. 1.3) shows how corresponds to the contents of Part II. Figure 12.2 depicts the WS in the PACS data flow.
12.1 BASICS OF A DISPLAY WORKSTATION
The WS is the interactive component in PACS that healthcare providers use for reviewing images and relevant patient information from which patient diagnosis is made. The interpreted result becomes the diagnostic report that feeds back to the hospital and radiology information systems (HIS, RIS) as a permanent patient record along with the images. In this chapter the terms softcopy workstation, display workstation, image workstation, or just workstation (WS) are used interchangeably. The conventional method of viewing radiological images on films relies on a technologist hangs them on an alternator or a light box. Table 12.1 shows the characteristics of a typical alternator.
Because the advantages of an alternator are its large surface area, high luminance, and convenience in use, the design of a soft ...
