Last week, Mr. Bruce Frank called DOTmed on the telephone to ask for advice about how to use our site. The call was routed to me and I answered his question...brilliantly, I might add.

Bruce works for a company called Core Sound Imaging, and he told me a little about it. According to Bruce, Core Sound Imaging stores 15 million medical images on its servers (in the cloud, as it were) and has about 10,000 users.

I believe that cloud computing is really the wave of the future. A tech can scan a patient on an ultrasound machine, the image is immediately uploaded to the cloud, downloaded by a radiologist and then forwarded to the referring physician.

"Private" clouds are taking off, too. Unlike public clouds (think Apple iCloud), the data are stored in-house. For instance, at RSNA last year, I met Syed Hamdani, a former IBM executive who founded XStor Systems. This new venture helps radiologists, pathologists and oncologists store and manage imaging data. Its offerings can work on a private cloud platform.

How many of you have stored your images using cloud services? What company did you use? Who do you think is the leader in this space?

Let me know your answers in the comments below. And be sure to keep an eye out for the February issue of DOTmed Business News. Our cover story on the PACS market will look at the cloud, Vendor Neutral Archives and other factors changing the industry.



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