Storage spins images into control
Rapid and digital are the buzzwords in the storage arena this year. As the migration to electronic health records speeds up, vendors are working to help facilities of all sizes gain easy access to their digital images. Look for storage virtualization opportunities as well, with vendors recognizing the increasing need for interoperability and access among and between healthcare organizations. Vendors also are offering storage systems with smoother IT administration and maintenance capabilities.



Acuo Technologies (Booth #5422) is making its RSNA debut this year. As an established medical IT vendor specializing in the design of DICOM image management, archiving and data migration solutions, Acuo is offering its scalable AcuoMed/AcuoStore systems as an OEM supplier to PACS vendors as well as continuing to sell directly to healthcare facilities. The AcuoMed/AcuoStore architecture scales up and out to create centralized repositories designed specifically for small imaging centers to enterprise-size, multi-PACS facility healthcare organizations, or fully distributed DICOM storage grids.



Data Distributing (Booth #7111) is showcasing its "D-Essentials" line of digital solutions and services, which it offers in simple modules or in phased, end-to-end deployment. D-Essentials Solutions import, digitize, archive and distribute DICOM images, films, documents and data, with a rapid return on investment. Data Distributing's offerings are designed to make digital productivity accessible and tailored to even the smallest facilities, and solutions include all the application software, hardware, integration, training and installation.



EMC Corp. (Booth #5134) is showcasing the Centera Four-Node Configuration for healthcare providers, which provides small to mid-size hospitals with a lower-cost, lower-capacity enterprise archiving solution. EMC Centera content address storage (CAS) has been a popular choice among larger healthcare organizations for integrating with PACS applications and for email archiving. Now EMC's new Centera Four-Node Configuration is a viable alternative for imaging centers and radiology clinics with tighter budgets and smaller capacity needs.

The Documentum Enterprise Content Management (ECM) is the next-generation ECM platform that allows healthcare providers to create a robust infrastructure foundation that manages the collaboration, creation, review, approval, archiving and ultimate disposal of information. This scalable ECM platform is an effective knowledge management solution that enables healthcare providers to meet R&D objectives and stay in compliance with current regulations.

EMC is highlighting new versions of its industry-leading EMC CLARiiON networked storage systems with native iSCSI (internet small computer system interface) support, including the new CLARiiON AX100i, CLARiiON CX300i and CLARiiON CX500i models. These new low- cost storage area network (SAN) systems help healthcare provider reduce storage costs, consolidate IT infrastructures and deploy an information lifecycle management (ILM) strategy regardless of the size or type of environment. With the iSCSI systems, EMC is delivering the broadest set of fibre channel and native iSCSI storage networking solutions in the industry.

In addition, EMC is showcasing the next-generation EMC CLARiiON Disk Library (CDL), a disk-based backup and recovery solution which allows healthcare providers to outline a sound path for disaster recovery and business continuity planning.



Hewlett-Packard (Booth #5158) is showcasing the HP Medical Archiving Solution, launched earlier this year during HIMSS. Designed for radiology practices within diagnostic imaging centers, clinics and hospitals, the HP Medical Archiving Solution provides affordable long-term storage of patient studies regardless of size. Physicians can then securely and simultaneously access vital information for better patient care. The HP Medical Archiving Solution can be built to align with the physical facilities within a healthcare organization, available in three starter sizes: 5TB protected and compressed; 10TB; and 20TB. The solution comes with a rack 42u high, with multiple HP ProLiant servers and MSA20 storage shelves in the rack. Available in North America and Europe, the solution is a bundle of hardware, software and services, and is sold for 2 to 4 cents per megabyte.



IBM Healthcare & Life Sciences (Booth #4165) is highlighting its Express Storage Platform for Medical Imaging which will allow small hospitals to benefit from a pre-bundled, more affordable archive solution. The company also is highlighting the availability of a medical archive solution through customer reference of GMAS-a layer of middleware insulating user applications from cross-enterprise storage, virtualizing the storage from departmental PACS into one secure virtual pool, providing cross-enterprise access to fixed content data - such as cardiology records, prescription scans and x-rays - and for 10km or more geographically dispersed locations.



InSiteOne (Booth #2774) is introducing a new professional data migration and an ultra-fast data retrieval feature implemented across its InDex long-term archiving line and rolling out its new Dare to Compare promotional theme. InSiteOne's InDex is designed to optimize the storage and archiving of medical images for healthcare facilities transitioning to filmless digital imaging.  The InDex web-enabled service is an affordable and versatile solution for short-term storage, retrieval and long-term archiving of DICOM and non-DICOM medical images including ultrasound, MRI, CT and radiotherapy.

The new data migration includes optional data cleansing, which compares DICOM image and RIS data for accurate one-to-one correspondence and eliminates unneeded information. The complete data migration service transfers information from a site's existing archives to InSiteOne's permanent offsite archive system, a labor-intensive process that many facilities simply don't have the resources for.  

Also debuting at RSNA is InSiteOne's Rapid Retrieval Archiving, which brings an enhanced level of efficiency to its archiving product line. To support this, the company will soon open a new flagship data center in Wallingford, Conn., complete with state-of-the-art spinning disk storage, replacing the optical disk storage currently in place. Spinning media, in conjunction with InSiteOne's advanced archiving software, assures the fastest archived data access available today.



Network Appliance (Booth #4914) is showcasing its newest disk-based solution - FAS3020. The FAS3000 series (FAS3020 or FAS3050) delivers up to twice the price/performance of competing products in its class and supports more users per system for greater storage consolidation capability, the company says. As part of the unified NetApp architecture, these systems support medical images in: FC SAN, IP SAN, and multiple network configurations, while offering scalability to higher performance systems with seamless, painless upgrades without requiring the "forklift" data migration needed by most other offerings currently on the market.

Additionally, the FAS3000 systems fully extend the value of the FlexVol capabilities built into Data ONTAP 7G by increasing disk performance even for small data volumes. FlexVol technology can reduce storage management costs and increase radiologists' storage utilization by up to 50 percent. Combined with the new SATA storage option, primary storage costs can be reduced by more than half.



Plasmon (Booth #8962) is showcasing their advanced opitcal library/drive storage solutions available for the healthcare industry. Plasmon's G-Series libraries powered by UDO are supported by the leading software providers and meet the most demanding regulatory compliance and HIPAA requirements to drive maximum value from information assets.



Sorna Corporation (Booth #1804) is debuting Version 2 of eXpedo, the intelligent software powering the FilmX family of DICOM CD/DVD recording systems. eXpedo's customizable "workflow profiles" feature automates and streamlines time-consuming tasks, such as the retrieval from RIS and PACS of prior images and related reports to add to a patient's current exam in a consolidated "PACS on a Disc" IHE PDI conformant CD or DVD.

eXpedo Version 2 has a new user interface improving the ease of connectivity and adding more viewing features. It supports DICOM Storage Commit and has the ability to display private DICOM tags. FilmX recording systems now offer local image storage and have optional archiving capability.

Open LiteBox Administrator software will also be showcased. This economic software package expedites and automates the efficient transfer of patient demographic data, reports, and images from a DICOM CD/DVD into a PACS.  Using the IHE PDI importer profile, three easy and reliable methods may be used: a modality worklist option, an archive query option, and a manual entry option, all of which permanently retain the original patient and study demographics as private DICOM tags.
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