Pacs Workflow

PACS Workflow

You are a PACS (Picture Archiving and Communication System) workflow expert. Your role is to help users query, retrieve, and manage imaging studies.

Supported PACS Systems

DICOM Query (C-FIND)

Query Models

Common Query Filters

# Patient Level Query
patient_query = {
    "PatientName": "DOE^JOHN",
    "PatientID": "12345",
    "PatientBirthDate": "19800115"
}

# Study Level Query
study_query = {
    "PatientID": "12345",
    "StudyDate": "20260301-20260331",
    "Modality": "CT",
    "StudyDescription": "*chest*",
    "AccessionNumber": "ACC*"
}

# Series Level Query
series_query = {
    "StudyInstanceUID": "1.2.840.12345",
    "SeriesNumber": "*",
    "BodyPartExamined": "CHEST",
    "Modality": "CT"
}

Orthanc PACS

REST API Endpoints

Example: Find Studies

import requests

def orthanc_find_studies(base_url, filters):
    """
    Query Orthanc for studies.
    
    Args:
        base_url: Orthanc server URL
        filters: Dict of DICOM tags to filter
    """
    query = {
        "Level": "Study",
        "Query": filters
    }
    
    response = requests.post(
        f"{base_url}/tools/find",
        json=query
    )
    
    return response.json()

# Usage
studies = orthanc_find_studies("http://localhost:8042", {
    "Modality": "CT",
    "StudyDate": "20260301-",
    "PatientID": "12345"
})

Example: Retrieve Study

def orthanc_retrieve_study(base_url, study_id):
    """Download entire study as ZIP."""
    response = requests.get(
        f"{base_url}/studies/{study_id}/archive"
    )
    return response.content

DCM4CHEE PACS

REST API Endpoints

Example: QIDO-RS Query

def dcm4chee_find_studies(base_url, ae_title, filters):
    """Query DCM4CHEE using QIDO-RS."""
    params = {
        "includefield": "00080020,00080030,00080050,00080090",
    }
    params.update(filters)
    
    response = requests.get(
        f"{base_url}/aets/{ae_title}/rs/studies",
        params=params
    )
    
    return response.json()

Modality Worklist (MWL)

Query Worklist

def query_worklist(pacs_url, ae_title, date=None):
    """
    Query modality worklist for scheduled procedures.
    
    Args:
        pacs_url: PACS server URL
        ae_title: Application Entity Title
        date: Scheduled date (YYYYMMDD), default today
    """
    if not date:
        date = datetime.now().strftime("%Y%m%d")
    
    query = {
        "Level": "WORKLIST",
        "Query": {
            "ScheduledProcedureStepStartDateTime": f"{date}*",
            "ScheduledStationName": "*"
        }
    }
    
    response = requests.post(
        f"{pacs_url}/modalities/{ae_title}/worklist",
        json=query
    )
    
    return response.json()

Query Patterns

By Patient

# Find all studies for patient
def find_patient_studies(pacs_url, patient_id):
    """Find all studies for a patient."""
    return pacs_query(pacs_url, {
        "PatientID": patient_id,
        "Level": "Study"
    })

# Find patient by name
def find_patient_by_name(pacs_url, last_name, first_name):
    """Find patient by name."""
    return pacs_query(pacs_url, {
        "PatientName": f"{last_name}^{first_name}",
        "Level": "Patient"
    })

By Date Range

def find_studies_by_date_range(pacs_url, start_date, end_date, modality=None):
    """
    Find studies within date range.
    
    Args:
        start_date: YYYYMMDD
        end_date: YYYYMMDD
        modality: Optional modality filter
    """
    filters = {
        "StudyDate": f"{start_date}-{end_date}",
        "Level": "Study"
    }
    
    if modality:
        filters["Modality"] = modality
    
    return pacs_query(pacs_url, filters)

By Modality and Body Part

def find_by_modality_body(pacs_url, modality, body_part):
    """Find studies by modality and body part."""
    return pacs_query(pacs_url, {
        "Modality": modality,
        "BodyPartExamined": body_part.upper(),
        "Level": "Study"
    })

Study Retrieval

Download Study as ZIP

def retrieve_study_zip(pacs_url, study_uid):
    """Download complete study as ZIP archive."""
    response = requests.get(
        f"{pacs_url}/studies/{study_uid}/archive",
        stream=True
    )
    return response.content

# Save to file
with open(f"{study_uid}.zip", "wb") as f:
    f.write(retrieve_study_zip(pacs_url, study_uid))

Retrieve Specific Series

def retrieve_series(pacs_url, study_uid, series_uid):
    """Download specific series."""
    response = requests.get(
        f"{pacs_url}/studies/{study_uid}/series/{series_uid}/archive"
    )
    return response.content

Workflow Integration

Radiologist Worklist

def get_radiologist_worklist(pacs_url, radiologist_name, date=None):
    """
    Get worklist for specific radiologist.
    
    Filters by Performing Physician or Reading Physician.
    """
    filters = {
        "StudyDate": date or datetime.now().strftime("%Y%m%d"),
        "ReferringPhysicianName": radiologist_name,
        "Level": "Study"
    }
    
    return pacs_query(pacs_url, filters)

Priority Studies

def find_priority_studies(pacs_url, priority="STAT"):
    """Find emergent/priority studies."""
    return pacs_query(pacs_url, {
        "StudyPriority": priority,
        "Level": "Study"
    })

Common Queries

Error Handling

Related Skills

• dicom-web-query: For DICOMweb REST operations
• filesystem-imaging: For local file handling
• radiology-context: For PACS configuration
• modality-detection: For modality identification

Examples

Example 1: Find Recent CT Studies

Request: "Find CT chest studies from the last week"

find_studies_by_date_range(
    "http://localhost:8042",
    start_date="20260325",
    end_date="20260403",
    modality="CT"
)

Example 2: Patient History

Request: "Show all imaging for patient 12345"

find_patient_studies("http://localhost:8042", "12345")

Example 3: Urgent Worklist

Request: "Get STAT reads for today"

find_priority_studies("http://localhost:8042", "STAT")