Consolidate and process imaging data with ease

The trend is undeniable: the growth of data processed by healthcare facilities is exponential. Aging population, increasing number of examinations and images per examination… Siemens Healthineers has addressed this challenge to offer an intelligent imaging solution tailored to specific needs.

GOING BEYOND THE TRADITIONAL PACS OFFER

Over the years, healthcare facilities have faced a threefold imperative: the continuous improvement of patient care, cost reduction, and scaling up (particularly with the emergence of Hospital Groupings). While this challenge may seem daunting, Siemens Healthineers has positioned itself alongside healthcare professionals to offer them suitable solutions. Stéphane Rusek, IT manager at the Monaco Cardio-Thoracic Center, explains the decision to collaborate with Siemens Healthineers: “With a growing volume of data (image size has doubled, spatial resolution has increased by 40%), the choice of a tool capable of hierarchical archiving, with access to cloud storage services such as deep archiving for cold data, appealed to us from the outset.”

Following the radiologists’ PACS in the 1990s, Siemens Healthineers developed neutral archives to enable holistic and multidisciplinary information processing. “With our latest solution, Syngo Carbon, we are reaching a new milestone,” says Frédéric Pégaz-Fiornet, Head of Digital Health & Cybersecurity at Siemens Healthineers France. “We now have a modular solution that can be deployed across one or more facilities.” This “comprehensive interface” delivers an innovative user experience within an interoperable, secure, and multidisciplinary environment.

“This tool stems from a process that began five years ago, based on our neutral archive platform. During a workshop, several global teams collaborated to draft the specifications for the most suitable solution. This is how Syngo Carbon was born.”

ADVANCED INTEROPERABILITY

One of the tool’s key features is its ability to integrate data from virtually any format. It can therefore aggregate diverse data from various departments. Chayma Zaafouri, Digital Health & Cybersecurity expert at Siemens Healthineers France, summarizes it this way: “When opportunities arise, and we support our clients, the project often takes on a new dimension when we demonstrate the solution’s ability to manage a multitude of data from clinical departments. We regularly exceed their initial requirements.” Proprietary data (from a facility or piece of equipment) is more easily integrated. For healthcare facilities, this translates into savings on IT equipment because data management can be centralized on a single database.

Stéphane Rusek agrees. “An important aspect of this project was also the consideration of single data storage. Even though protection mechanisms exist, the Syngo Carbon solution, due to its architecture, avoids data transfers between the various available viewer clients and therefore allows for faster data access.”

UNIVERSAL DATA MANAGEMENT

Having a single database across the entire facility brings significant simplification. With an integrated data model that is centrally accessible for all patient data, diagnostic reliability is enhanced.

However, to meet the specific needs of each department, the tool will be able to adapt. “The system can recognize the type of data it has to process,” explains Frédéric Pégaz-Fiornet. Depending on its source, it will know, for example, how long to store images and will be able to automatically delete them when needed. Similarly, other tasks can also be automated. An examination used for research will, for example, be systematically anonymized.

And this is where the product configuration phase becomes crucial. “We go through a qualification phase before the project so that the client can express their needs and we can establish workflow scenarios.”

THE WORKFLOW SIMPLIFIED AND AUTOMATED

Even before the radiologist examines an examination, Syngo Carbon Space will have automatically performed certain measurements and detected potential pathologies. This optimizes time, improves the accuracy of analyses, and reduces their variability, as some of its algorithms are based on Artificial Intelligence.

The “smart reporting” module, meanwhile, assists the specialist in creating reports. “All measurements taken and analyses performed,” emphasizes Frédéric Pégaz-Fiornet, “are integrated and structured within the report. With a single click, the software retrieves the necessary values.” Stéphane Rusek points to another key advantage. “In retrospective studies, we no longer need to clutter the active file queue in the STS*** to access images. Generally speaking, we still have many uses to discover thanks to the opportunities offered by this new operating method.” The physician can thus complete all report-related tasks in a single environment.

As we can see, the solution offers several advantages and can greatly facilitate collaboration between professionals and the link between community and hospital care (secure transmission of information to the general practitioner via a password). And it doesn’t disappoint when it comes to research. It easily integrates third-party applications***** if needed. In all its aspects, the solution is decidedly adaptable to different uses and users.

Marion BOIS

*Intelligent Reporting *Short Time Storage **** The association and/or combination with third-party applications is carried out under the responsibility of the healthcare facility according to a method defined by the user, who in this context has full responsibility for validating the performance of the device combination and the quality of the results obtained.

Syngo Carbon is a Siemens Healthineers solution integrating Class IIa/IIb medical devices bearing the CE marking TUV 0123. Please read the device user manual carefully, and in particular the instructions relating to the scope and precautions for use.

Syngo Carbon Space is software designed to display medical data and support the review and analysis of medical images by trained medical professionals.

Class IIb medical device, CE marked according to Regulation (EU) 2017/745 - CE 0123 (TÜV SÜD). Manufacturer: Siemens Healthcare GmbH, Erlangen, Germany.

Please read the device’s user manual carefully, paying particular attention to the precautions for use.

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