The international system for units.
Le Systeme international d'Unites officially came into being in October 1960 and has been adopted by nearly all countries, though the amount of actual usage varies considerably.
It is based upon 7 principal units:
Length - meter (m)
Mass - kilogram(kg)
Time - second (s)
Electric current - ampere (A)
Temperature - Kelvin (K)
Amount of substance - mole (mol)
Luminous intensity - candela (cd)
From these basic units many other units are derived and named.

See also Ultrasound Physics.

(A or amp) The SI base unit of electric current.
Definition: Two parallel conductors, infinitely long and having negligible cross section should be placed 1 meter apart in a perfect vacuum. One ampere is the current that creates between them a force of 0.2 microNewton per meter of length.
One ampere represents a current flow of 1 coulomb of charge per second.
One ampere of current results from a potential distribution of 1 volt per ohm of resistance, or from a power production rate of 1 watt per volt of potential.
The unit is known informally as the amp, but A is its official symbol and is named for the French physicist André-Marie Ampère.

See also System International.

(m) The SI base unit of distance.
Definition: 1983 defined as the distance traveled by light in a vacuum during the time interval of 1/299 792 458 of a second.
The speed of light in a vacuum, c, is one of the fundamental constants of nature.

1 meter (m) is equal to approximately 39.370 079 inches (in)
1 meter is equal to approximately 3.280 840 feet (ft)
1 meter is equal to approximately 1.093 613 3 yard (yd)
1 square meter (m²) is equal to approximately 10.763911 square feet (ft²)
1 inch = 2.54 centimeters
Smaller or larger units are, e.g.:
1 (m) = 1 000 millimeter (mm)
1 kilometer (km) = 1 000 (m)
1 kilometer (km) = 0.62137 (statute) miles (mi)

See also system international.

European Medicines Agency (EMA) is a decentralized body of the European Union with headquarters in Amsterdam.
'The EMEA began its activities in 1995, when the European system for authorizing medicinal products was introduced, providing for a centralized and a mutual recognition procedure. The EMEA has a role in both, but is primarily involved in the centralized procedure. Where the centralized procedure is used, companies submit one single marketing authorization application to the EMEA. A single evaluation is carried out through the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) or Committee for Medicinal Products for Veterinary Use (CVMP). If the relevant Committee concludes that quality, safety and efficacy of the medicinal product is sufficiently proven, it adopts a positive opinion. This is sent to the Commission to be transformed into a single market authorization valid for the whole of the European Union.'
'Its main responsibility is the protection and promotion of public and animal health, through the evaluation and supervision of medicines for human and veterinary use. The EMEA coordinates the evaluation and supervision of medicinal products throughout the European Union. The Agency brings together the scientific resources of the 25 EU Member States in a network of 42 national competent authorities. It cooperates closely with international partners, reinforcing the EU contribution to global harmonization.'

See also Class I II III Devices, Phase 1 2 3 4 Drug Trials, and Drug Development and Approval Process USA.

(DICOM) DICOM is the industry standard for transferral of radiologic images and other medical information between computers. Patterned after the Open System Interconnection of the International Standards Organization, DICOM enables digital communication between diagnostic and therapeutic equipment and systems from various manufacturers.
The DICOM 3.0 standard evolved from versions 1.0 (1985) and 2.0 (1988) of a standard developed by the American College of Radiology (ACR) and National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA). To support the implementation and demonstration of DICOM 3.0, the RSNA Electronic Communications Committee began to work with the ACR-NEMA MedPacs ad hoc section in 1992.
Also Picture Archiving and Communication Systems (PACS), which are connected with the Radiology Information System (RIS), use commonly the DICOM standard for the transfer and storage of medical images.

See also Digitization.