Synapse® VNA
Synapse VNA — Enterprise Archive for Medical Imaging
Synapse VNA (Vendor Neutral Archive) is an enterprise imaging archive designed to centrally store, manage, secure, and provide access to DICOM and non-DICOM clinical content across healthcare organizations. It creates a patient-centric imaging record while connecting imaging systems, departments, and clinical workflows through a single archive.
Key Features
Vendor-neutral storage — manages both DICOM and non-DICOM content, including PDFs, videos, audio files, JPEGs, and TIFF images.
Patient-centric imaging record — brings imaging information from different specialties and systems into a unified patient view.
Image Life Cycle Management — provides tools to control and manage imaging data throughout its lifecycle.
Enterprise interoperability — integrates with EMR, PACS, RIS, and CVIS environments and connects imaging content across departments.
Secure server-side access — uses server-side rendering without desktop caching, keeping imaging data within the organization's data center.
Zero-download viewing — supports image display without downloading studies to the viewing device.
Scalable architecture — supports environments ranging from individual departments to multiple facilities and imaging specialties.
Data migration reduction — allows data to be migrated once, reducing the need for repeated future migrations.
Vendor-neutral data preservation — retains original data and associated metadata while supporting retrieval through current and future standards.
Enterprise collaboration — integrates with Synapse Mobility Enterprise Viewer for viewing and sharing DICOM and non-DICOM content.
Unified Enterprise Imaging Archive
Synapse VNA provides a single, patient-centric repository for clinical imaging information across the continuum of care. Instead of keeping imaging data isolated within individual PACS or departmental systems, the archive connects content from multiple sources and specialties.
It can manage both traditional DICOM studies and non-DICOM clinical content such as PDF documents, videos, sound files, JPEG images, and TIFF images, allowing a broader range of patient information to be incorporated into the imaging record.
Interoperability Across Healthcare Systems
The VNA is designed to connect imaging environments that may otherwise operate independently. It can integrate with EMR, PACS, RIS, and CVIS solutions while supporting imaging workflows across different departments and facilities.
Its adaptive architecture can accommodate areas such as point-of-care ultrasound, dermatology, wound care, and EHR image and video uploads, allowing organizations to expand enterprise imaging beyond radiology.
Secure Access and Data Management
Synapse VNA centralizes imaging data within the organization's infrastructure while supporting secure access through the Synapse Mobility Enterprise Viewer.
Its server-side rendering approach means images do not need to be downloaded or permanently cached on the viewing device. The supplied specifications describe this as a zero-download, zero-footprint approach, helping maintain centralized control of patient imaging data.
Image Life Cycle Management tools also provide centralized control over imaging information as it is stored, managed, and accessed.
Vendor-Neutral Data Management
A key function of Synapse VNA is its ability to preserve data without locking the organization into a particular application or storage vendor.
The supplied information states that:
Original image sources remain untouched.
Data can be returned to its originating system in its original format.
Private metadata tags can be retained for use by the originating system.
Native storage supports standard MIME-type viewers.
Retrieval can remain flexible as imaging and interoperability standards evolve.
Scalable Enterprise Storage
Synapse VNA is designed to scale from a single department to multiple facilities and specialties. The supplied information reports deployments containing more than 10 billion images, demonstrating the platform's stated ability to manage very large imaging archives.
Centralizing storage can also reduce departmental storage silos, simplify IT governance, and reduce dependence on individual application vendors for additional storage.
Operational and Cost Efficiency
By providing a common archive for DICOM and non-DICOM content, Synapse VNA can reduce the need for separate departmental storage environments and repeated data migrations.
The platform is designed to support single-point access to clinical studies and multimedia content, while reducing vendor dependence and helping simplify enterprise imaging infrastructure.