title: Picture archiving and communication systems in digital cytology.
abstract: The paper describes a fundamental feature of digital cytology relevant to the implementation of the technology in the hospital net services: the electronic recording of the virtual slides (VS) in the hospital information system (HIS) through a picture archiving and communication system (PACS). Starting from the digital cytology (D-CYT) state of art and considering the most important products in the field, particular attention has been devoted in this review to the comparison with the digital radiology (D-RAD). Two main indications emerged from the study: 1. there is not a standard in the digital files relevant to the virtual slides in D-CYT, while in D-RAD the standard digital imaging and communications in medicine (DICOM), introduced by the National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA), has been adopted from several years; 2. the PACS in D-CYT are not standardized from manufacturers. The study makes a proposal of a useful software architecture to improve the PACS integration for D-CYT applications, with potentialities in the HIS.
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Tecnologie e Salute, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Sandra
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Morelli
authors.forename: Mauro
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Grigioni
authors.forename: Maria Rosaria
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Giovagnoli
authors.forename: Simone
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Balzano
authors.forename: Daniele
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Giansanti
mesh_terms: D011873:Radiology Information Systems; D012815:Signal Processing, Computer-Assisted; D019113:Telepathology