Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine (DICOM)

13.3 Teleradiology 281
Fig. 85 Extending PACS to teleradiology
What technology should stand behind teleradiology, and how can one plan
for using or providing teleradiology services? Most of the confusion, especially
with the early teleradiology systems, came from the choice of tools. We dealt
with many teleradiology projects, and eventually developed the following list
of requirements that any teleradiology solution should satisfy:
1. Teleradiology should preserve the diagnostic quality and content of the medical
data.
2. Teleradiology should provide seamless integration and support for DICOM
and PACS.
3. Teleradiology should work with limited-bandwidth networks. 41 Similarly,
teleradiology should not depend on the distance (network length).
4. Teleradiology should be maximally compatible with the various end-user software/hardware.
If Dr. X is using Windows Vista, and Dr. Y is using Mac,
your teleradiology system should support both of them, just like email. You
absolutely cannot make assumptions about the computer your remote expert
will be using.
41 Remember the “last mile” problem: any network is as fast as the speed of its slowest
link.