Radiotherapy

References

Klinikum rechts der Isar

Radiation Therapy

Klinikum rechts der Isar, Technical University of Munich (TUM), Germany

Most patients undergoing treatment within the Department of Radiation Oncology and Radiation Therapy bring with them a large number of previous studies for therapy planning. This is supplemented by additional examinations as part of therapy monitoring between radiotherapy sessions. In addition, all examinations must be archived for 30 years because of potential long-term side effects of radiation therapy.

The quintessence: an unimaginable amount of data and a long, mandatory retention period. This raises the question of how data from 30 years ago can be read today? It is not easy to keep data in a consistent and readable format over such a long period of time. It can only be done in a neutral format.

Website Klinikum rechts der Isar

Wanted: PACS with reliable long-term archive

Due to the challenges of long-term archiving, combined with the fact that the old Picture Archiving and Communication System (PACS) was becoming too slow for the huge volume of data, the TUM requested and later purchased a product from IMAGE Information Systems.

The iQ-WEB PACS software of this medical device manufacturer archives study data according to international standards, including IHE and DICOM. Thus, it ensures, beyond the legal requirements of long-term archiving, that data is stored securely and remains readable for more than 100 years. Continuous background data checks by iQ-WEB detect potential inconsistencies, such as images without a database entry. This is an important factor in image data quality management.

Radiation Therapy Bonn-Rhein-Sieg, Germany

Radiation therapy is one of the central pillars in the field of modern cancer therapy. A prerequisite for modern radiation treatment is the use of the latest technology, taking into account current radiobiological findings. Radiation Therapy Bonn-Rhein-Sieg, with four locations in North Rhine-Westphalia, has precisely this technology and therapy forms at its disposal. All practices are located in close proximity to hospitals and work closely with these and other clinics in the region. The use of diagnostic imaging information in radiotherapy treatment planning is of great importance. In particular, modern cross-sectional imaging modalities are used directly for treatment planning and volume definition. For this purpose, these data must also be available from external sources in DICOM formats in a timely manner.

Headline

The institution’s medical management contacted IMAGE Information Systems in mid-2020, originally with the sole aim of optimizing their CD management system. Many patients come to the practices with external CDs from referring physicians. Scanning the CDs to plan radiation therapy took a lot of time.

In order to optimize the entire workflow, Bonn-Rhein-Sieg Radiation Therapy decided to install a complete PACS containing iQ-WEB as the archive as well as the zero-footprint viewers iQ-4VIEW and iQ-FUSION. In addition, DICOMReader is a tool to import any kind of imaging data from CDs/DVDs and to normalize the DICOM data quality for Varian Eclipse (radiation planning system). Since each site now has two DICOMReaders, simultaneous reading of patient media is possible, resulting in an accelerated workflow.

The iQ-WEB UPLOADER web application and the iQ-WEB WADO module (via link) for direct electronic connection of diagnostic image data from external physicians and hospitals complete the system. By using iQ-WEB UPLOADER, CT/MR data from referring physicians is transmitted quickly and conveniently from any Internet-enabled device. And thanks to iQ-WEB’s WADO interface, links to images in iQ-WEB can be created and sent by email. This is especially advantageous for follow-up treatment of patients.

Varian’s data migration tool, which runs automatically in the background, can be used to archive the radiotherapy device data in iQ-WEB.

To provide the greatest possible protection in terms of cybersecurity, IMAGE took a number of measures. For example, a proxy server was placed in the DMZ (Demilitarized Zone), which is connected between the internal network and external access. The PACS on the intranet runs without Internet access. In addition, only IP addresses from Germany are allowed to access the system.

In radiotherapy, image documents must be stored for 30 years due to legal requirements. This audit-proof long-term archiving is covered by iQ-WEB.

As a result, both the physicians and IT at Bonn-Rhein-Sieg Radiation Therapy are very satisfied with the solution installed by IMAGE.

Website Radiation Therapy