Multi-resolution storage in a PACS archive

Many retrievals of images from a PACS archive do not require the full spatial resolution at which the images were originally acquired. Savings in retrieval times could be realized if images were retrieved at the lower resolution required for each display need. A PACS archive was constructed wherein images are stored and may be retrieved at lower than the originally-acquired resolution. Incoming images from the modality devices are minified by successive factors of two, down to 128 x 128. A DICOM extended private attribute was defined which enabled the reduced resolution images to be retrieved with a modified DICOM move requests. The reduced resolution images can be received by a standard DICOM workstation without the need for special workstation software. Multi-resolution storage requires approximately 30% more space. This additional media cost is deemed acceptable for this archive, in which data are stored on low cost magnetic tape.