KKK.3 Heterogeneous Environment
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## KKK.3 Heterogeneous Environment

Figure KKK-1 illustrates the approach to enabling a heterogeneous environment with conversion from single to multi-frame objects as appropriate. In this figure, modalities that generate single or enhanced images peacefully co-exist with PACS or workstations that support either or both.

Figure KKK-1. Heterogeneous environment with conversion between single and multi-frame objects

The following use-cases are explicitly supported:

- A PACS that accepts single frame images, and converts them to multi-frame images for its own internal use.

- A PACS that accepts single frame images, and converts them to multi-frame images for externalization via DICOM services (Query/Retrieval) so that they can be used by external workstations (or other processing applications) that support multi-frame images.

- A PACS that accepts multi-frame images from a modality, and converts them to single frame images for its own internal use.

- A PACS that accepts true and/or legacy converted enhanced multi-frame images, and converts them to single frame images for externalization via DICOM services (Query/Retrieval) so that they can be used by external workstations (or other processing applications) that do not support multi-frame images.

- A modality that can create true enhanced multi-frame images, as well as receive true (+/- legacy converted) enhanced multi-frame images.

- Return of results from workstations in either single frame or true or legacy converted enhanced multi-frame form.

The amount of standard information is the same in single frame and transitional legacy-converted multi-frame images, but greater in the true enhanced multi-frame images, and this affects the level of functionality obtainable within the PACS or with an external workstation (without depending on private information).

Since the transitional legacy-converted and true enhanced multi-frame images share a common structure and common functional group macros, this scalability can be implemented incrementally.

It is NOT the expectation that modalities will generate Legacy Converted Enhanced Image Storage SOP Instances; rather, they should create True Enhanced Image Storage SOP Instances fully populated with the appropriate standard attributes and codes.

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