Multimedia Collaborative Remote Consultation Tools via Gigabit Wide Area Networks in Teleradiology

Abstract

Many rural hospitals would like continuous coverage for radiology services. Some of these hospitals are, in fact, without a radiologist. This shortcoming can be addressed by developing a diagnostic-quality, cost-effective system for teleradiolgy. As deployment of wide area and local asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) networks continues, workstation performance accelerates and costs decrease, the availability of teleradiology systems becomes limited by upper-layer protocols, disk speed and the dynamic range of computer displays. If data base functionality of a picture archive and communications system (PACS) are ignored, teleradiology is becoming a reality. This paper deals with extending a University of Arizona teleradiolgy and teleconsultation application to the widest possible area by using high-performance-satellite communications and traditional telephone service.