EP-4738379-A1 - SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR PRIORITIZING CACHING OPERATIONS BASED ON APPLICATION CONTEXT IN MEDICAL IMAGING PICTURE ARCHIVING AND COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS

EP4738379A1EP 4738379 A1EP4738379 A1EP 4738379A1EP-4738379-A1

Abstract

A method, system and computer program product for prioritized prefetching and caching operations based on a viewer application context within a picture archiving and communication system (PACS). The method includes querying a priority cache for a next imaging study with at least one medical image file requiring prefetching, receiving a next study index corresponding to the imaging study with a highest priority value, a caching operation, and the cache state of the imaging study, identifying the at least one medical image file with the highest priority value requiring prefetching, prefetching the at least one medical image file with the highest priority value requiring prefetching, and storing, in an application cache, the at least one prefetched medical image file of the imaging study with the highest priority value, the application cache corresponding to the associated caching operation and the cache state of the imaging study.

Inventors

CARRUTHERS III, WILLIAM BENJAMIN
Vincent, Brigil

Assignees

FUJIFILM Healthcare Americas Corporation

Dates

Publication Date: 20260506
Application Date: 20250605

Claims (13)

A computer system for prioritized prefetching and caching operations within a picture archiving and communication system (PACS), the PACS comprising: a viewer application and a plurality of imaging studies, each imaging study including one or more series of medical image files, each series of medical image files including a plurality of medical image files, wherein each medical image file includes a medical image captured by a medical imaging apparatus and associated digital imaging and communications in medicine (DICOM) data, wherein the viewer application interacts with the plurality of medical image files, the computer system comprising: one or more computer processors; one or more non-transient computer-readable storage media; program instructions stored on the computer-readable storage media for execution by at least one of the one or more computer processors, the program instructions comprising: program instructions to: identify, by a priority engine of the viewer application, a set of imaging studies of the plurality of imaging studies, wherein each of the set of imaging studies includes at least one medical image file requiring prefetching for a caching operation; determine, by the priority engine, a priority value for each imaging study of the set of imaging studies based on a viewer application context associated with a respective imaging study; store each imaging study in a study queue, a series queue, or an image queue within a memory of the PACS based on the corresponding priority value, wherein each imaging study is stored with: a corresponding study index, a series index, and an image index, a caching operation associated with the at least one medical image file of the imaging study requiring prefetching, and a cache state of the plurality of medical image files of the imaging study; query, by the priority engine, a priority cache for a next imaging study with at least one medical image file requiring prefetching; receive, by the priority engine, a next study index corresponding to the imaging study with a highest priority value, an associated caching operation, and the cache state of the imaging study, wherein the next study index is the corresponding study index, the series index, and the image index; identify, by the priority engine, the at least one medical image file of the imaging study with the highest priority value requiring prefetching; prefetch, by the priority engine, the at least one medical image file of the imaging study with the highest priority value; store, in an application cache within the memory of the PACS, the at least one prefetched medical image file of the imaging study with the highest priority value, wherein the application cache corresponds to the associated caching operation and the cache state of the imaging study with the highest priority value; fetch at least one medical image file from the application cache when the associated caching operation is to be performed on the at least one medical image file; and execute the associated caching operation on the medical image file.
The computer system of claim 1, wherein the program instructions to identify the set of imaging studies of the plurality of imaging studies comprise program instructions to: identify a first set of imaging studies within the set of imaging studies, the first set of imaging studies including at least one medical image file requiring prefetching for a first caching operation indicated by one or more user queries; identify a second set of imaging studies within the set of imaging studies, the second set of imaging studies including at least one medical image file requiring prefetching for a second caching operation indicated by one or more user inputs selecting at least one imaging study; or identify a third set of imaging studies within the set of imaging studies, the third set of imaging studies including at least one medical image file requiring prefetching for a third caching operation indicated by a user subscription.
The computer system of claim 2, wherein the program instructions to identify the set of imaging studies of the plurality of imaging studies further comprise program instructions to: aggregate the first set of imaging studies, the second set of imaging studies, and the third set of imaging studies into the set of imaging studies of the plurality of imaging studies.
The computer system of claim 1, wherein the priority value for each imaging study includes at least one of an image level priority value, a series level priority value, or a study level priority value, and wherein the image level priority value is higher than the series level priority value, and wherein the series level priority value is higher than the study level priority value.
The computer system of claim 1, wherein the viewer application context associated with the respective imaging study includes the associated caching operation, the cache state of the plurality of medical image files of the imaging study, and data indicating whether there is a user input or a user query associated with the imaging study.
The computer system of claim 1, wherein the cache state of the image study comprises: data indicating whether there are active operations for medical image files associated with the image study; data indicating whether the image study and the associated medical image files are present in the application cache; or data indicating eligibility of the image study and the associated medical image files for each caching operation.
The computer system of claim 1, wherein the application cache comprises at least one of a decode image cache, an image file cache, or an image cache.
A computer program product for prioritized prefetching and caching operations within a picture archiving and communication system (PACS), the PACS comprising: a viewer application and a plurality of imaging studies, each imaging study including one or more series of medical image files, each series of medical image files including a plurality of medical image files, wherein each medical image file includes a medical image captured by a medical imaging apparatus and associated digital imaging and communications in medicine (DICOM) data, wherein the viewer application interacts with the plurality of medical image files, the computer program product comprising a non-transient computer readable storage medium having program code embodied therewith, the program code executable by a processor to: identify, by a priority engine of the viewer application, a set of imaging studies of the plurality of imaging studies, wherein each of the set of imaging studies includes at least one medical image file requiring prefetching for a caching operation; determine, by the priority engine, a priority value for each imaging study of the set of imaging studies based on a viewer application context associated with a respective imaging study; store each imaging study in a study queue, a series queue, or an image queue within a memory of the PACS based on the corresponding priority value, wherein each imaging study is stored with: a corresponding study index, a series index, and an image index, a caching operation associated with the at least one medical image file of the imaging study requiring prefetching, and a cache state of the plurality of medical image files of the imaging study; query, by the priority engine, a priority cache for a next imaging study with at least one medical image file requiring prefetching; receive, by the priority engine, a next study index corresponding to the imaging study with a highest priority value, an associated caching operation, and the cache state of the imaging study, wherein the next study index is the corresponding study index, the series index, and the image index; identify, by the priority engine, the at least one medical image file of the imaging study with the highest priority value requiring prefetching; prefetch, by the priority engine, the at least one medical image file of the imaging study with the highest priority value; store, in an application cache within the memory of the PACS, the at least one prefetched medical image file of the imaging study with the highest priority value, wherein the application cache corresponds to the associated caching operation and the cache state of the imaging study with the highest priority value; fetch at least one medical image file from the application cache when the associated caching operation is to be performed on the at least one medical image file; and execute the associated caching operation on the medical image file.
The computer program product of claim 8, wherein the program code to identify the set of imaging studies of the plurality of imaging studies comprises program code to: identify a first set of imaging studies within the set of imaging studies, the first set of imaging studies including at least one medical image file requiring prefetching for a first caching operation indicated by one or more user queries; identify a second set of imaging studies within the set of imaging studies, the first set of imaging studies including at least one medical image file requiring prefetching for a second caching operation indicated by one or more user inputs selecting at least one imaging study; identify a third set of imaging studies within the set of imaging studies, the third set of imaging studies including at least one medical image file requiring prefetching for a third caching operation indicated by a user subscription; aggregate the first set of imaging studies, the second set of imaging studies, and the third set of imaging studies into the set of imaging studies of the plurality of imaging studies.
The computer program product of claim 8, wherein the priority value for each imaging study includes at least one of an image level priority value, a series level priority value, or a study level priority value, and wherein the image level priority value is higher than the series level priority value, and wherein the series level priority value is higher than the study level priority value.
The computer program product of claim 8, wherein the viewer application context associated with the respective imaging study includes the associated caching operation, the cache state of the plurality of medical image files of the imaging study, and data indicating whether there is a user input or a user query associated with the imaging study.
The computer program product of claim 8, wherein the cache state of the image study comprises: data indicating whether there are active operations for medical image files associated with the image study, data indicating whether the image study and the associated medical image files are present in the application cache, or data indicating eligibility of the image study and the associated medical image files for each caching operation.
The computer program product of claim 8, wherein the application cache comprises at least one of a decode image cache, an image file cache, or an image cache.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to the field of medical picture archiving and communication systems (PACS); and more particularly relates to a system and method for prioritizing prefetching and caching operations based on application context within a PACS. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION In the field of medical imaging, the use of PACS has revolutionized the way medical professional's store, access, and analyze patient images. For example, PACS allows healthcare professionals to quickly access and conduct a detailed review of a plurality of medical images in digital format, which can lead to faster and more accurate diagnoses and treatment planning. PACS also allows multiple healthcare professionals to simultaneously access medical images for a particular patient, which provides an efficient way to communicate amongst healthcare professionals and allows for a second opinion in a given medical situation. However, within a PACS, displaying medical images at interactive frame rates is critical for interpretation workstations, such as radiology workstations. To achieve the fastest initial display and smoothest scrolling performance, all images would ideally be cached locally on the workstation rather than relying on on-demand streaming from a server as the user interacts with the system. One solution is to preemptively download studies to which a user has subscribed based on queries relevant to the user and prioritizing them based on the query order. However, at times, a user may select other studies to open or download that may not be cached on the workstation. For such cases, providing priority retrieval to selected studies may be needed. Accordingly, there exists a need for improved methods and systems within PACS that enable prioritized prefetching and caching operations based on an application context. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is, therefore, an aspect of the present invention to provide a computer-implemented method for prioritized prefetching and caching operations within a picture archiving and communication system (PACS), the PACS including: a viewer application and a plurality of imaging studies. Each imaging study includes one or more series of medical image files, each series of medical image files including a plurality of medical image files. Each medical image file includes a medical image captured by a medical imaging apparatus and associated metadata. The viewer application interacts with the plurality of medical image files. The computer-implemented method includes: identifying, by a priority engine of the viewer application, a set of imaging studies of the plurality of imaging studies, wherein each of the set of imaging studies includes at least one medical image file requiring prefetching for a caching operation; determining, by the priority engine, a priority value for each imaging study of the set of imaging studies based on a viewer application context associated with a respective imaging study; storing each imaging study in a study queue, a series queue, or an image queue within a memory of the PACS based on the corresponding priority value, wherein each imaging study is stored with a corresponding study index, a series index, and an image index, a caching operation associated with the at least one medical image file of the imaging study requiring prefetching, and a cache state of the plurality of medical image files of the imaging study; querying, by the priority engine, a priority cache for a next imaging study with at least one medical image file requiring prefetching; receiving, by the priority engine, a next study index corresponding to the imaging study with a highest priority value, an associated caching operation, and the cache state of the imaging study, wherein the next study index is the corresponding study index, the series index, and the image index; identifying, by the priority engine, the at least one medical image file of the imaging study with the highest priority value requiring prefetching; prefetching, by the priority engine, the at least one medical image file of the imaging study with the highest priority value; storing, in an application cache within the memory of the PACS, the at least one prefetched medical image file of the imaging study with the highest priority value, wherein the application cache corresponds to the associated caching operation and the cache state of the imaging study with the highest priority value; fetching at least one medical image file from the application cache when the associated caching operation is to be performed on the at least one medical image file; and executing the associated caching operation on the medical image file. Another aspect of the present invention provides a computer system for prioritized prefetching and caching operations within a PACS, the PACS comprising: a viewer application and a plurality of imaging studies. Each imaging study includes one or more series of medical image files, each series of medica