TEST OF AN ATM (ASYNCHRONOUS TRANSFER MOD E)-BASED TELERADIOLOGY NETWORK

The retain project (Radiological Examination Transfer on ATM Integrate d Network) consisted in teleradiology trials focused on pediatric imag ing between two university hospitals, Rennes (France) and Barcelona (S pain) using an integrated broadband communication network based on ATM (asynchronous transfer mode), as part of a European research program. The network used was a full 10 Mbits/s ATM network directly connected to local PACSs (medical imaging hospital networks). One important rea son to explicitly consider ATM for medical imaging is that multimedia applications on such networks allow integration of digital data and pe rson-to-person communication. The utility of broadband communication f or teleradiology has been confirmed. High quality video and sound are important for both human communication and medical video transfer. The project led to guidelines regarding technical options still open to i mprovement.