What does it mean to “integrate” medical images?

In general, to integrate medical images means to make any type of image, video or graphic of clinical interest accessible and retrievable from any healthcare information system.

More specifically, medical image integration normally seeks one or more of the following objectives:

• To achieve that the images generated by some non-radiological device (for example, an endoscope, a retinograph or even an electrocardiograph) can be stored in PACS, the centralized system for medical image archive and communication.
• To achieve that all the images of patients can be consulted from their electronic clinical record, without having to use other systems, independently from the hospital that generated them. Thus, it shall be possible to simultaneously review the knee radiograph and arthroscopy of a patient.
• To achieve that the images may be shared among physicians of different hospitals, promoting telemedicine processes, second opinion, external reviews, etc.

In practice, achieving a true integration of medical images implies solving an extremely complex problem, which usually involves multiple manufacturers, multiple technologies and information systems, and various departments and hospital services.

C2C has the knowledge and the necessary tools (MIO™ and MEDTING) to undertake and solve all these problems.