Modeling network infrastructure and performance evaluation for PACS: DICOM over ethernet-based TCP/IP

Studies of information and process modeling have demonstrated the importance and clinical impact of Picture Archiving and Communication Systems in the efficient operational management of imaging within the clinical setting. The appropriate identification of both clinical and technology requirements for the planning and deployment of such systems is essential to achieve cost-effectiveness in use. The understanding of the complexities of clinically viable network topologies and architectures for PACS can be achieved through realistic simulations and modeling. The purpose of this paper is to provide a methodology for modeling the DICOM session and application layer entities over Ethernet-based TCP/IP, by using the OPNET Modeler, and derive performance evaluation metrics for different PACS network topologies.