The client
A Cancer Screening Organisation (CSO) is a charity that provides free cancer screening and assessment services across Victoria. Empyrean worked with the CSO to deliver an Edge computing Solution for their picture archiving and communication system (PACS) data.
CSO provides free screening to eligible clients over the age of 40 years. In 2018/19, BreastScreen Victoria screened over 265,000 women and aims to increase screening by 3% annually.
Screening is offered by 42 fixed and 2 mobile screening services located across Victoria. Each screening site is linked to one of eight Reading and Assessment Services (RAS), including four metropolitan Melbourne and four in regional Victoria.
The RAS deliver clinical services including reading and further tests to perform required additional assessment to ascertain the possibility of cancer detection.
Finding the right edge computing solution
We spent a considerable amount of time consulting with the client to understand their data growth patterns and the impact that new 3D imaging technologies would have on their business, data growth, and performance requirements.
The engagement included:
- Workshops with various business units to understand the organisational strategy, as well as the planned adoption of new imaging technologies over the next 3-5 years.
- An options analysis of the relevant solutions in the market and a recommended Solution Architecture to address the needs of the business.
- Sourcing, detailed design & implementation of the solution with the client.
Edge computing improvements over legacy architecture
- A Hyperconverged solution with VMware vSAN
Moving away from a traditional Server, SAN model, to a 2 Node VMware vSAN Remote Office Branch Office solution (ROBO). This decreased the rack space and power requirements by over 50%. - Reduced complexity with policy-based management
vSAN is integrated into the VMware vSphere hypervisor allowing for a simple integrated management and deployment experience via vCenter. Unlike traditional storage arrays, vSAN also allows you to define policies at a Virtual Machine and vDisk layer providing granular management capabilities. - Improved end user experience and data throughput with enhanced performance and scalability
This was achieved using new Dell r7515 Servers and All Flash storage at each location. As CSO was increasing the use of 3D imaging, the use of all flash storage has had a very positive experience for staff and patients by reducing the amount of time it tasks to carry out the assessment. - Backup and Disaster Recovery built in
Deploying backup and Disaster Recovery utilising vSphere snapshots and replication to CSO’s Datacentres is policy based and simplified with vSAN and vCenter. - Cost savings
By moving to a Hyperconverged solution we reduced the cost by over 50%.
Edge computing technology
- New Dell R7515 servers with All Flash storage at each of the 8 RAS sites.
- Backup and Disaster Recovery replication utilising VMware Snapshots and vSphere replication.
- vSAN ROBO 7.0.
Empyrean’s edge, in edge computing
We believe in being vendor-agnostic and delivering the right fit solution for the client, as opposed to the standard vendors.
We have over 10 years industry experience providing technology solutions to healthcare organisations. We understand the importance of PACS, storage solutions and other healthcare technology meet the requirements of these organisations.
The Numbers
Screening sites
Cost reduction
Outcomes
- Immediate cost savings
- Increased scalability and agility
- Removed reliance on legacy technology
- Reduced operational complexity
- Improved user experience
- Improved performance
- Enhanced data resiliency
Technology
- Dell R7515 servers
- VMware Snapshots
- vSphere
- vSAN ROBO 7.0