Coming from the field of medical software, PACS is an acronym for
Picture
Archiving and
Communications
System.
A PACS is device that accepts medical images from one or more scanning devices (a.g. CT or MR) and stores, indexes, and distributes these images as needed. The primary purpose of a PACS is to replace film, allowing for more rapid transport of current and reference images to radiologists and other physicians who use these images to diagnose and treat patients. As well, switching to softcopy interpretation of images allows for a significant reduction in cost, because film no longer has to be produced or stored.
Most PACS use the DICOM standard to communicate with other devices.