A method, system, and method of doing business in a standards-based medical imaging
environment is described in relation to the communication of computer-aided detection
(CAD) results among devices, with one embodiment relating to the DICOM standard.
CAD results are fixably integrated into the pixels of a secondary image derived
from a source image, and the secondary image is transferred using a DICOM Secondary
Capture Image Information Object Instance (SCI-IOI). The DICOM SCI-IOI is transferred
to a viewing workstation, whereby a clinician can open, manipulate, and view the
secondary image in a side-by-side comparison with the source image or derivative
images thereof. Advantageously, CAD results are communicated to the clinician in
a DICOM-conforming manner independent of whether the viewing workstation supports
standard DICOM accommodations, such as CAD Structured Report Information Object
Instances (CAD SR-IOIs), for the type of CAD results that need to be presented.
Optionally, an equipment information entity identifier in a CAD SR-IOI and/or the
SCI-IOI can be modified to change or shield the identity of the manufacturer of
the CAD processing unit.
