SPECIFICATION AND INITIAL EVALUATION OF A MULTIPLE APPLICATION TELERADIOLOGY SYSTEM

The digitization and transmission of medical images is becoming increa singly more important and available. The selection of appropriate clin ical applications for teleradiology systems is an important factor in determining the success of such ventures. In this paper, the selection of such applications and the evaluation of the teleradiology system i s described. The system (LIAISON(TM), CAPTEC Ltd, Malahide, Ireland) i s PC based and is capable of digitization and transmission of three ca tegories of medical images: (1) plain film radiographs; (2) CT film da ta and (3) video sequences such as ultrasound scans. A comprehensive t echnical evaluation was carried out on the acquisition and display sta tion in which various parameters such as spatial resolution, signal-to -noise ratio (SNR), and distortion were investigated. Results showed t hat the system performed well within specifications. An exploratory cl inical evaluation was performed using a case mix of subtle fractures, chests and dislocations, and CT scans. Here the system performed well with a diagnostic accuracy of 95% for the digital image compared with the analogue image.