University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics: Department of Radiology: Teleradiology
1. Point-to-point connection.
This configuration consists of the basic sending and review station directly connected by a dedicated transmission network (e.g, a single wire or fiber-optic cable). This configuration is often used in a single building to accommodate image transmissio n from one location to another.
A point-to-point transmission network is often used in a single
building to accomodate image transmission from one location (left) to
another (inset).
2. Local Area Network (LAN) connection.
As with the point-to-point connection, the LAN consists of a dedicated transmission network; but in this configuration multiple sending (and review) stations are attached. Thus, images can be sent from several different locations within a building (or cluster of buildings) to a review station.
It is important to note that in both the point-to-point and closed LAN configuration, only those devices connected to the dedicated transmission network can communicate (i.e. send and receive images).
A Local Area Network consists of multiple sending and review
stations. Only those devices connected to the dedicated transmission
network, such as sending and receiving stations, can communicate on a
Local Area Network.
3. Wide Area Network (WAN).
The easiest way to visualize a WAN is that it consists of many Local Area Networks (LAN) interconnected to create a "super" network. This concept is illustrated below.
This collection of interconnected Local Area Networks (LAN) can be represented as a "network cloud." The telephone network services in the United States can be thought of as a Wide Area Network and this is probably the most widely used transmission network for teleradiology. The primary advantages of using the telephone network are that: 1) it already ex ists; 2) the inner workings and complexities of the network are transparent to end users; 3) it allows for readily available long and short distance connections; and 4) the costs are low. Utilizing this connection mechanism could potentially provide for a teleradiology network in Iowa as shown in the diagram below.
A station at each city on this network could utilize a sending station, a receiving station, or both, depending on the city's needs. Thus, if each user connected to the wide area telephone network has both a sending and receiving station, the user could send or receive images to or from any other city connected to the network.
In practice, this is not possible today unless all stations have fully compatible equipment. At present, there are no communication standards for image file formats in the teleradiology market place and also none for proprietary vendor-developed file f ormats and transmission schemes. Teleradiology technology is progressing slowly toward standardization and it is hoped that a common product compatibility among vendors will take place in the near future.
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