In the mid-1990s, at the time SYNAPSE was first conceived, Europe and the US were beginning to manage and share medical diagnostic images via private networks with PACS (Picture Archiving and Communication System). What made Fujifilm’s SYNAPSE concept different was that it used the emerging Internet and web technologies instead of private networks. It was, in essence, a Web-based PACS.
Since the Internet makes building networks easy and convenient, a Web-based PACS would greatly reduce hurdles to implementation for small and large facilities alike. Thus, for example, a large hospital would be able to share diagnostic images with a small clinic, and remote diagnosis would become more practical as well.
At the same time, the digitalization of medical imaging was continuing apace, yet Fujifilm only had FCR to offer in the market. A leading company in the industry, Fujifilm decided to add innovative IT systems to their product lineup that could handle all types of medical imaging applications. A sense of the crisis the company might face if it did not meet these emerging needs was a strong motivation in making SYNAPSE a reality.
At the start of the SYNAPSE R&D project, a long series of in-depth discussions led to a radical conclusion—one that would greatly affect the direction Fujifilm’s innovation would take. Even though Fujifilm was a Japanese company, the team decided to begin developing SYNAPSE in the United States.
One of the team members at the time comments about the thinking behind the decision: “The US was the birthplace of the Internet, and it was also the leader in the areas of telecommunications standards and operating systems for computing. In addition, academic and military use of PACs was widespread, and there were many examples of medical connectivity to learn from. Of course, Fujifilm wasn’t an IT company, and so establishing a key R&D presence on the US West Coast was pretty daunting for us. But in order to quickly get a handle on the latest technologies, expertise, and market needs and to advance our R&D project, we were prepared to face the challenges head on.”