Northern Ireland expands PACS contract with Sectra to include digital breast imaging

The department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety in Northern Ireland has expanded its PACS contract with Sectra (http://www.sectra.com/medical) (STO: SECT B), to include digital breast imaging. The breast screening centres in the region will benefit immediately from the existing centralized PACS facilitating efficient image handling and information sharing across all of Northern Ireland.

As part of the continued investment in healthcare IT in Northern Ireland, its breast screening programme is transitioning to digital imaging. To support this transition the existing region-wide PACS solution provided by Sectra in 2010 is being extended to include dedicated breast imaging functionality.

Northern Ireland has one of the world's largest and most integrated region-wide imaging healthcare IT solutions where images and patient information is handled in a single database. In total 1.4 million radiology and mammography examinations are carried out every year. The installation includes 27 hospitals, organized in five Trusts, and four breast screening centres.

The additional functionality supports the unique workflow of digital breast imaging of high-volume screening and advanced diagnostic mammography.