TIMS Applications > Case Studies > Cardiovascular

Problem:  The Sioux Valley Hospital cardiovascular department was in the process of installing a Philips PACS system.  Previously, they had been using ComView systems for reviewing their studies and providing instant access to consulting cardiologists elsewhere in the hospital. The ComView system was non-DICOM and Sioux Valley Hospital needed to convert their four catheterization labs, including two bi-plane systems, to DICOM.  Large capital equipment costs of upgrading or replacing their cath labs prompted Sioux Valley Hospital to find the best solution for the conversion of their cath labs to DICOM.

Solution:  TIMS DICOM System. Sioux Valley Hospital worked with DMS Health Technologies to install the Philips PACS as well as the TIMS DICOM Systems. Sioux Valley now has six TIMS DICOM Systems. Two networked TIMS units are required for the bi-plane systems to ensure simultaneous, real-time acquisition from both planes. Sioux Valley Hospital required instant access and viewing of each cardiac imaging run, not simply after the entire study was completed. Foresight Imaging worked with Cindy Wegehaupt, Project Manager for Information Technology at Sioux Valley Hospital, to implement these new capabilities in the TIMS DICOM System. Just three months after the initial installation, Foresight Imaging introduced a new version of software with several new features based on the workflow at Sioux Valley Hospital. One of these was progressive DICOM send which allowed the hospital to send each cardiac imaging run to PACS immediately as it is acquired. This enabled the hospital’s consulting cardiac surgeons or cardiologists to review cardiac imaging runs on the Philips PACS review stations while the procedure was still in process. Cindy commented, “Foresight Imaging listened to our workflow needs and implemented improvements to the TIMS DICOM System quickly and efficiently. We like the streamlined user interface, our physicians get the images before the case closes, and our workflow is unimpeded.”