Question Set:Data Transfer Concepts for Electronic Charting Alf Siochi

Question Set:Data Transfer Concepts for Electronic Charting Alf Siochi

Question Set:Data Transfer Concepts for Electronic Charting – Alf Siochi

(Data Integrity and Electronic Charting, 2013 AAPM Spring Clinical Meeting).

1. What port and IP address settings will most likely succeed for a DICOM AE?

  1. dynamic IP address, any port
  2. dynamic IP address, port 104
  3. static IP address, any port
  4. static IP address, port 104
  5. static IP address, port 20104

Answer: 4

The AE must be on a computer with a static IP address, and port 104 is reserved for DICOM.

Ref: Pianykh, OS. Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine – A Practical Introduction and Survival Guide, Springer-Verlag, Berlin, Heidelberg (2008), pp. 117-8.

(Category: INF)

2. What component identifies the attribute contained in a DICOM data element ?

  1. Tag
  2. Value Representation
  3. Value Length
  4. Value
  5. Protocol Data Unit

Answer: 1

The tag uniquely identifies the attribute whose value is contained in the value component, while the VR and VL describe the data type (integer, text, etc) and size. The PDU describes the packets of data involved in the association.

Ref: 1) Pianykh, OS. Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine – A Practical Introduction and Survival Guide, Springer-Verlag, Berlin, Heidelberg (2008), p. 197.

Ref: 2) DICOM PS 3.5-2007, p. 35-36. (The lists describe the tag, VR, VL, Value ).

Ref: 3) DICOM PS 3.6-2007, p. 6. (Sec. 3.4 describes the tag).

(Category: INF)

3. The DICOM-RT Plan IOD modules that describe a linac treatment beam are ?

  1. Native Coordinate Systems
  2. Set-Up DRRs
  3. RT-Beams and Fraction Schemes
  4. Control Point Sequences
  5. RT-Beams Session records

Answer: 3

RT-Beams and Fraction Schemes are part of the RT Plan IOD, and are used together to describe the geometry and MU settings for a treatment beam.

DRRs are externally referenced objects and are part of RT-Image. The control point sequence is only one part of the RT-Beams module. RT-Beams Session records are not part of RT-Plan, but they are part of RT-Record.

Ref: 1) DICOM PS 3.3-2007, p.533 (C.8.8.14.6 describes machine coordinates in IEC 61217) , p.518 (Referenced Reference Image Sequence is a reference to the set-up DRRs used to validate a given beam and is an external reference), p.102 (Table A.1.3 indicates which modules are in which IODs),p. 532. (bottom list item “a” describes the use of control points), p.474 (briefly describes which IODS are in RTPLAN and in RTRECORD)

(Category: INF)

4. A Safe implementation of an HL7 System requires

  1. Message headers
  2. Message footers
  3. Minimal Lower Layer Protocols
  4. Logging and uptime monitoring
  5. ACK messages

Answer: 4

While headers, footers, MLLP and ACK messages are part of an HL7 system, such a system cannot be implemented safely without monitoring that the applications and services supporting the system are up 100%.

Ref: 1) Trotter, F and Uhlman, D. Hacking Healthcare: A Guide to Standards, Workflows, and Meaningful Use, O’Reilly Media, Sebastopol, CA (2013), p. 183.

(Category: INF)

5.Which of the following items is used for normalization

  1. Primary Key
  2. Foreign Key
  3. Record
  4. Field
  5. query

Answer: 2

While records, fields, and primary keys make up a simple database table, normalized tables will have a foreign key equal to the primary key of the related table. Queries will work on either type of table but can be much more complex when foreign keys are involved.

Ref: 1) Churcher, C. Beginning Database Design: From Novice to Professional, Apress, Berkeley CA (2007), .pp 139-145.

(Category: INF)

6. Which of the following is a QA test ?

  1. Patient’s IMRT chamber reading
  2. Match TMS plan to TPS plan
  3. Daily Output Check
  4. Patient ID check
  5. Plan dose satisfies Prescription

Answer: 3

QA is distinct from QC. QC is done for every plan for every patient, which is the case for items 1,2, 4, and 5. QA verifies that the Clinical Operations System or subsystems meet the specifications needed to deliver the required service or product. A daily output check ensures that a linac (subsystem) provides the correct calibration between programmed MUs and radiation dose (specification).

Ref: 1) Greene, J. and Stellman, A. Head First PMP, 2nd ed., O’Reilly, Sebastopol, CA (2009), p.372.

(Category: C07.B)

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