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.