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This paper aims to present a novel DSpace-based medical image repository system planned explicitly for storing and retrieving clinical images using digital imaging and communication in medicine (DICOM) metadata standards. DSpace institutional repository software is widely used in an academic environment for accessing and mainly storing text-related files. DICOM images are particular types of images embedded with much system-generated metadata and organised using DICOM metadata standards.

The present paper talks about institutional repository software (DSpace) in archiving DICOM images. In the current study, the authors have tried to integrate the DICOM metadata standard with DSpace, which was compatible with Dublin Core (DC) and open archives initiative – protocol for metadata harvesting (OAI-PMH). After combining the DICOM standard with DSpace and the repository tested with a sample of 5,000 images, the retrieval results using various DICOM tags was very satisfactory. This study paves for the use of open source software (OSS) in storing and retrieving medical images.

The author has provided the DSpace software to recognised DICOM (.dcm) files in the first stage. In the second stage, a patch was developed to identify the DICOM metadata standard in Dspace, which has inbuilt DC metadata standards. Finally, in the third stage, retrieval efficiency was tested with a 5,000 .dcm image using the DICOM tag and the results were very fruitful.

A major limitation of this study was the size of the data (5,000 DICOM images) with which the authors have tested the system. The system scalability has to be tested on various fronts like on cloud and local servers with different configurations, for which a separate study has to be done.

Once this system is in place, DICOM users can stock, retrieve and access the image from the Web platform. Furthermore, this proposed repository will be the warehouse of various DICOM images with reasonable storage costs.

In addition to exploring the opportunities of free open source software (FOSS) implementation in medical science, this study includes issues related to the performance of an open-source repository for retrieving and preserving medical images. It created and developed Open Source DICOM Medical Image Library with DICOM metadata standard with the help of DSpace. Thus, the study will generate value for library professionals and medical professionals and FOSS vendors to understand the medical market in the context of FOSS.

This paper aims to provide image repository to the medical professional in an open source platform, which will increase the visibility of Digital Imaging and Communication in Medicine (DICOM) image in a network mode; further, the proposed system will reduce the storage cost of the images to significant level.

The authors have developed a new institutional repository model for the medical professionals cum radiologists to preserve, store and retrieve medical images from one database with the help of open source software. The authors used JavaScript programming to integrate and develop the DICOM Standard with DSpace.

Major outcome of this work is that DICOM images can be accommodated in DSpace without modifying the image properties and keeping intact the various dimensions of image viewing options. Further, it was found that the images are retrieved without any ease because of the robust indexing system.

Major limitation of this study was the size of the data (5000 DICOM image) with which the authors have tested the system. The scalability of the system has to be tested on various fronts, for which separate study has to be done.

Once this system is in place, DICOM user can store, retrieve and access the image from Web platform. This proposed repository will be the storehouse of various DICOM images with reasonable storage costs.

In addition to exploring the opportunities of open source software (OSS) implementation in Medical Fields, this study includes issues related to implementation of open source repository for storing and preserving medical image. This is the first time in Library Science field to create and develop Open Source DICOM Medical Image Library with the help of DSpace. The study will create value for library professionals as well as medical professionals and OSS vendors to understand the medical market in the context of OSS.

Recent studies indicated that the level of adoption of health data standards in healthcare organisations remains frustratingly low worldwide although health data standards have been perceived to be an essential tool for interoperability barriers within health information systems. The relevant literature still lacks significant studies concerning the issues of the adoption process of health data standards in healthcare organisations, and in particular those in developing nation. In addressing this gap in knowledge, the purpose of this paper is to investigate the adoption decision of health data standards in tertiary healthcare organisations in Saudi Arabia, and to develop a technology-organisation-environment list that contains the critical factors influencing their adoption.

A multiple-case study methodology was conducted in Saudi Arabia and different data collection methods were used included semi-structured interviews with different decision makers at various levels and departments of the subject organisations, and documents analysis to identify critical factors to the adoption decision of health data standards.

The findings demonstrated a list of key factors from different aspects impacting the adoption decision of health data standards in the subject organisations. The technological factors are complexity and compatibility of health data standards, IT infrastructure, switching costs, market uncertainties, systems integration and enhancing the use of advanced systems. The main organisational factors are the lack of adequate policies and procedures and information management plan, resistance to change, data analysis and accreditation. The core environmental factors are the lack of national regulator and data exchange plan, national healthcare system and the shortage of professionals.

The results from the qualitative data were difficult to generalise to other populations. For example, the structure of the health sector varies from country to country as each health sector has its own characteristics that affect and are affected by national circumstances. In order to provide a more grounded theory resulting from a qualitative study, further examination by conducting quantitative studies is required. In addition, the TOE approach does not take into account the sociotechnical issues and further research is required in this area.

The investigation into the adoption decision of health data standards in tertiary healthcare organisations in Saudi Arabia has led to the development of a technology-organisation-environment list that contains the critical factors influencing their adoption. The research outcome has addressed the gap in knowledge of the adoption of health data standards in healthcare organisations. It also provides the decision maker, and in particular those in developing nations, with better understanding of the adoption process of those standards to better judge and to develop suitable strategy of adoption interventions.

Although recent studies indicated that the level of adoption of health data standards in healthcare organisations remains frustratingly low, the prior studies related to health data standards missed out on the exploration of the adoption decision of different types of health data standards in healthcare organisations and the critical factors influencing their adoption. Research on health data standards adoption based out of a developing country such as Saudi Arabia can also potentially provide several new insights on standards practices.

This paper seeks to carry out a critical study of health data standards and adoption process with a focus on Saudi Arabia.

Many developed nations have initiated programs to develop, promote, adopt and customise international health data standards to the local needs. The current status of, and future plans for, health data and related standards in developing countries are still questionable due to the absence of government actions, plans and related studies. However, the development of interoperable standards not only technically defines a method of interoperation between the different systems in a network but most importantly represents a proposal for the future of complex socio‐technical systems that is the shape of a national health information network and therefore a complex balance between different types of requirements including organisational, social and managerial aspects must be managed. This reaffirms the need for a more in‐depth study to evaluate the adoption of health information technology‐related standards at the decision‐making stage in developing countries. Based on diffusion of innovation theory and the theories surrounding the economics of standards, a case study method was applied in Saudi Arabia to study the adoption process of health data standards.

The preliminary analysis findings revealed that there are 18 factors influencing the decision‐making adoption process of acquiring certain standards.

Qualitative study methods have been employed in the present study that have shed light on the many issues that need to be addressed in this field. Studies involving other countries including advanced nations should be done for which the present results have economic, social and educational implications.

The present study and findings should help inform policy and decision makers in developing health systems with the potential creation of information and structure that can sustain future and improved systems.

This paper makes a novel contribution at both academic and practical levels since both the academics and practitioners, who are devoted to the ongoing use of health data standards, still lack a significant body of evidence with regard to the factors that influence their adoption.

Service‐oriented architecture is becoming increasingly important for healthcare delivery as it assures seamless integration internally between various teams and departments, and externally between healthcare organizations and their partners. In order to make healthcare more efficient and effective, we need to understand and evaluate its processes, and one way of achieving that is through process modeling. Modeling healthcare processes within a service‐oriented environment opens up new perspectives and raises challenging questions. The purpose of this paper is to investigate one of these questions, namely the suitability of web service orchestration and choreography, two closely related but fundamentally different methodologies for modeling web service‐based healthcare processes.

The authors use a case‐based approach that first developed a set of 12 features for modeling healthcare processes and then used the features to compare orchestration and choreography for modeling part of the scheduled workflow.

The findings show that neither methodology can, by itself, meet all healthcare modeling requirements in the context of the case study. The appropriate methodology must be selected after consideration of the specific modeling needs. The authors identified usability, capabilities, and evolution as three key considerations to assist with selection of a methodology for healthcare process modeling. Further, sometimes one method will not meet all modeling needs and hence the authors recommend combining the two methodologies in order to harness the benefits of modeling healthcare processes in a service‐oriented environment.

Although literature exists on process modeling of web services for healthcare, there are no criteria describing necessary features for micro‐level modeling, nor is there a comparison of the two leading service composition methodologies within the healthcare context. This paper provides some necessary formalization for process modeling in healthcare.

To relieve intracranial pressure and save patient inflicted with severe head injury, neurosurgeons restore cranial defects. These defects can be caused because of trauma or diseases (Osteomyelitis of bone) which are treated by cranioplasty, using the preserved bone of patient. In case of non-availability of bone, a cranial implant is generated using a biocompatible synthetic material, but this process is less accurate and time-consuming. Hence, this paper aims to present the use of rapid prototyping technology that allows the development of a more accurate patient-specific template and saves the surgery time.

A five-year-old girl patient having cranial defect was taken up for cranioplasty. CT (computed tomography) scans of the patient were used to generate 3D design of the implant suitable to conceal the defect on the left frontal portion using CAD/CAM (computer-aided design/ computer-aided manufacturing) software. The design was used for 3D printing to manufacture a base template, which was finally used to fabricate the actual implant using Simplex® P bone cement material to conceal the defect.

Surgery using Simplex® P implant was performed successfully on the patient, giving precise natural curvature to left frontal portion of the patient, decreasing surgery time by about 30 per cent.

The case demonstrates the development of a convenient, time-saving and aesthetically superior digital procedure to treat cranial defect in the absence of preserved bone flap using CT scan as input. 3D modelling and printing were deployed to produce an accurate template which was used to generate an implant using bone cement biocompatible material.

Aims to investigate medical rapid prototyping (medical RP) technology applications and methods based on reverse engineering (RE) and medical imaging data.

Medical image processing and RE are applied to construct three‐dimensional models of anatomical structures, from which custom‐made (personalized) medical applications are developed.

The investigated methods were successfully used for design and manufacturing of biomodels, surgical aid tools, implants, medical devices and surgical training models. More than 40 medical RP applications were implemented in Europe and Asia since 1999.

Medical RP is a multi‐discipline area. It involves in many human resources and requires high skills and know‐how in both engineering and medicine. In addition, medical RP applications are expensive, especially for low‐income countries. These practically limit its benefits and applications in hospitals.

In order to transfer medical RP into hospitals successfully, a good link and close collaboration between medical and engineering sites should be established. Moreover, new medical applications should be developed in the way that does not change the traditional approaches that medical doctors (MD) were trained, but provides solutions to improve the diagnosis and treatment quality.

The presented state‐of‐the‐art medical RP is applied for diagnosis and treatment in the following medical areas: cranio‐maxillofacial and dental surgery, neurosurgery, orthopedics, orthosis and tissue engineering. The paper is useful for MD (radiologists and surgeons), biomedical and RP/CAD/CAM engineers.

This paper aims to propose a functional methodology to produce cranial prostheses in polymeric sheet. Within the scope of rapid prototyping technologies, the single-point incremental forming (SPIF) process is used to demonstrate its capabilities to perform customized medical parts.

The methodology starts processing a patient’s computerized axial tomography (CAT) and follows with a computer-aided design and manufacture (CAD/CAM) procedure, which finally permits the successful manufacturing of a customized prosthesis for a specific cranial area.

The formability of a series of polymeric sheets is determined and the most restrictive material among them is selected for the fabrication of a specific partial cranial prosthesis following the required geometry. The final strain state at the outer surface of the prosthesis is analysed, showing the high potential of SPIF in manufacturing individualized cranial prostheses from polymeric sheet.

This paper proposes a complete methodology to design and manufacture polymer customized cranial prostheses from patients’ CATs using the novel SPIF technology. This is an application of a new class of materials to the manufacturing of medical prostheses by SPIF, which to this purpose has been mainly making use of metallic materials so far. Despite the use of polymers to this application is still to be validated from a medical point of view, transparent prostheses can already be of great interest in medical or engineering schools for teaching and research purposes.

Rapid prototype models are directly integrated into non‐engineering applications such as medicine. Medical models are used to plan complex procedures prior to surgery with potential to optimise patient treatment in the operating theatre. This paper presents results following a 12 month National Health Service Executive research project to assess the feasibility of using rapid prototype medical models. A total of 16 medical models were created. Nine anatomical sites were reconstructed from patient data acquired from five London hospitals. The purpose of the models is described and the commissioning surgeons as part of a questionnaire assessed their usefulness. Future developments are discussed and conclusions about the use of medical models are made.

The National Museum of Natural History has been carrying out, over the last several years, a study of hominid fossil skulls, which have been discovered in different regions of the world. The aim of the palaeo‐anthropological study of these skulls is to reconstruct the genealogic tree of the evolution of man and to understand better, the diversity of the homo Erectus species on the different continents. Currently, digital techniques and those of rapid prototyping offer a solution to these problems by allowing the virtual or physical reconstitution of the skulls for scientific study. This paper presents this new perspective for the world of palaeontology.