Tight integration of a commercial PACS viewer as a component within a multimedia clinical viewing station

We claim that to deploy PACS in large-scale clinical routine, image access and viewing must be tightly integrated within the overall user interface of the multimedia clinical workstation. First, we motivate the need for integration. Then, we propose minimal requirements for an image viewer to be integrated in a clinical workstation. Finally, we report on initial experience with integration of a commercial viewer, in developments that are part of the clinical PACS project at the University Hospitals Leuven, with emphasis on technology for integration. We discuss the aspect of integration within the broader context of PACS, and point to a potential risk for the Radiological PACS community to ignore emerging trends in building large information systems.