Electronic Records Management
The recent boom in the global healthcare industry has ramped up
demand not only for healthcare professionals but also for related
IT equipment. Government regulations such as the Health Insurance
Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) are gradually forcing
healthcare providers to upgrade legacy information systems with
the latest in laboratory information management, picture archiving
and communication, as well as medical records systems.
Laboratory information management system (LIMS)
According to market research firm Frost & Sullivan, regulatory
compliance as well as the standardization of business practices
and have catapulted the LIMS market into the growth stage, with
market revenues likely to increase from US$209 million in 2003 to
US$328 million in 2009. The development of LIMS has been influenced
by the trend toward the maintenance of electronic records in lieu
of paper-based documents. LIMS assists lab workers in handling structured
data records such as samples, tests performed, and their results.
Picture archiving and communication system (PACS)
PACS is an electronics system that uses an image server to exchange
X-rays, CT scans and other medical images over a network. Due to
its legal mandate under the provisions of the HIPAA, market research
firm Frost & Sullivan projects that 65.2 percent of all hospitals
and 12.3 percent of U.S imaging centers will install PACS by 2007.
This is not surprising considering that PACS offers several benefits.
The film-less system speeds up the turnaround time required for
delivering images/x-rays to the attending physicians, since they
will no longer need to wait for film images to be processed and
delivered before they are analyzed. As a result, doctors will be
able to make quick decisions in emergency or life-threatening medical
cases.
LIMS and PACS both require a high level of performance, availability
and reliability, as immediate access to patient information is critical
in emergency scenarios.
The Solid State Disk Advantage
So what do solid state flash disks offer for these applications?
Medical imaging systems are performance-hungry applications that
require real-time performance and higher resolutions while medical
information systems need reliable components to minimize downtime.
All of these requirements can be easily met by utilizing flash-based
solid state disk for storage or as a cache solution. High transfer
rates allow immediate delivery of real time information, while the
ruggedized packaging of certain solid state disk models, such as
BiTMICRO's E-Disk SSD, immunizes the storage device from hazardous
ESD and EMI. Moreover, the VME and cPCI architectures are most commonly
used in medical imaging systems, and E-Disk solid state disks are
tailor fit for any VME, cPCI, PMC storage module.
Solid state flash disks are capable of much higher transfer rates
and IOPS relative to other storage mediums such as magnetic disk
drives. Flash-based solid state disks inherently consume less power
and generate a smaller amount of heat due to the absence of spindle
motors. ESD and EMI, both generated and received, will be minimized
with flash drive implementation. On top of that, the non-volatile
nature of flash memory makes it resistant to shock and vibration,
a useful feature in rugged mobile environments.
BiTMICRO's E-Disk solid state flash disk has a unique feature
that sets it apart from its DRAM-SSD and HDD counterparts. E-Disk's
patented PowerGuard® provides temporary power in the event of
a power loss, allowing the disk to flush all the content in the
cache into the flash memory, ensuring data reliability and availability
in mobile medical systems.
It is also noteworthy to mention BiTMICRO's extended warranty
support programs in support for non-obsolescence and quality control
of computerized medical equipment. Extended warranty ensures timely
and original or functionally equivalent replacements for BiTMICRO
products that need repair or attention, up to a period covering
10 years after original purchase.
Price Trend
Now that we've established the technical viability of solid state
flash disks in medical systems, let's examine the practicality of
flash disk deployment in enterprise storage. Though there still
is a price premium for solid state disks over rotational drives,
the gap between HDD and solid state flash disk quotes is seen to
narrow significantly-with a difference of only about $0.05 per MByte
in 2007-despite the huge performance advantages of solid state disks
(at 100x-150x over magnetic drives in terms of sustained transfers
and IOPS).
Web-Feet Research also projects a major decline in the solid state
flash disk/HDD cost ratio by approximately four times, from 433:1
($0.078 vs. $0.0018 per MByte) in 2003 to 107:1 ($0.096 vs. $0.0009
per MByte) in 2006. Solid state flash disks will also maintain its
cost-per-MByte advantage over DRAM-based SSDs.
One thing the solid state disk industry has benefited from is
the continued decline in flash memory prices. High demand for portable
electronic devices such as MMS-capable phones, digital cameras,
and MP3 players has driven semiconductor manufacturers to boost
flash memory density and output. Market research firm Web-Feet Research
predicts that the price per MByte of solid state flash disk will
fall by an average of 80.86 percent annually within a 5-year period
starting 2004.
Figure 1: Disk drive comparison, $ / MB
Conclusion
The digitization of diagnostics and records management procedures
in the medical industry has facilitated the evaluation, sharing,
and archiving of patient images and information. However, these
data intensive applications require storage components that can
operate in an environment where IT system downtime can be fatal.
Solid state flash disk is the ideal solution for medical systems,
providing fast throughput and scalability at a price that belies
its wide performance lead over magnetic disk drives.
About the Authors
Jun Alejo is Marketing Communications Specialist for BiTMICRO
Networks, Inc. You may contact him at 1 (510) 743-3193 or send an
email at jun.alejo@bitmicro.com.
Wilson WeiSheng Wang is a Strategic Marketing Analyst for
BiTMICRO Networks, Inc. You may contact him at 1 (510) 743-3146
or send an email at wilson.wang@bitmicro.com.
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