Andrew N. Shrosbree <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Gavan, > > Your question regarding whether it is appropriate to use a US-centric > radiology model is very pertinent. The IHE model is, IMO, excellent for > handling the kind of huge blocks of data inherent in the retrieval of > images. Having only a 'manifest' stored centrally makes the process > extremely efficient.
In what way does having a central "manifest" make the process extremely, or even more efficient? The actual (large) image files still need to be sent or retreived from provider to client (or v-v). The only difference is that in the IHE model the recipient polls the central "manifest" Web service to see if anything is waiting to be picked up by it, whereas in the direct Web service model which we have been discussing, the sender tries to send directly to the recipient and if the recicient is not contactable, teh sender tries again later and/or takes alternative action (eg if the information is urgent). As has been discussed, the overhead of resending iff (if and only if) a recipient Web service is offline is not likely to be any more than the overhead of everyone having to constantly poll a central "manifest" service or clearinghouse. Plus it avoids the very significant central point of failure which a "manifest" service represents. And as Gavin points out, the IHE model of a central manifest doesn't help when more complex interactions between Web services are involved, rather than just "Here's Mrs Blogg's chest xray". Tim C _______________________________________________ Gpcg_talk mailing list [email protected] http://ozdocit.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/gpcg_talk
