Clinical Trial Administrator's Manual
This article describes how to configure a MIRC storage service for clinical trials. It applies to the RSNA MIRC implementation, and it is intended for MIRC site administrators.
A MIRC storage service includes several components specifically oriented to clinical trials. These components, called services, work together to support a single trial. When a MIRC site must support multiple clinical trials, multiple storage services are installed, one for each trial. Generally, if one or more teaching file components are required on a site, they are supported by separate storage services.
The key services related to clinical trials are: - The DICOM Import Service - a DICOM Storage SCP that receives DICOM objects (typically from modalities or PACS) using the DICOM protocol. - The HTTP Import Service - a service that receives DICOM, XML, or Zip objects (typically from remotely located imaging centers) using the HTTP or HTTPS protocol. - The DICOM Export Service - a DICOM Storage SCU that forwards DICOM objects received by the HTTP Import Service to DICOM Storage SCPs using the DICOM protocol. - The HTTP Export Service - a service that forwards DICOM objects received by the DICOM Import Service to HTTP Export Services (typically at other locations). - The Database Export Service - a service that forwards DICOM, XML, Zip, or file objects to an interface to an external database, allowing athe construction of a trial-specific database outside the scope of MIRC. - The Update Service - a service that provides the clinical trial administrator control over the software and configuration files at remotely located imaging centers participating in the trial.
The RSNA MIRC project has developed several supporting applications and tools that cooperate in the operation of a trial. The most important of these is the FieldCenter application, which runs at a remotely located imaging center and automatically transmits images to the principal investigator site.
1 Overview
The overall layout of the components in a MIRC site is shown in this diagram.
