There has been much discussion of the hardware associated with local area networks (LAN), but little discussion of the practical impact such a system will have on the practice of radiology as we know it today. This paper will address the problems associated with conducting consultations in a networked environment. The first consideration is what messages must be formulated. Questions such as the following arise: can one or more physicians communicate with a digital image source at the time a study is being done to instruct the technologist to obtain another view or to change the window width and level before the film is made; how can the surgeon viewing an image consult with the radiologist to obtain information concerning tumor localization; once the image is on the network in a standard format, what might be the best way to distribute it to two or more different locations in such a manner that consulting can occur effectively; if two physicians are consulting how can a third person either be included in the conversation or prevented from listening in. This paper will focus on the messages which must be exchanged to communicate the necessary information and to control the sharing and cooperative use of this information.

Date Published: 16 May 1983
PDF: 12 pages
Proc. SPIE 0418, Picture Archiving and Communication Systems, (16 May 1983); doi: 10.1117/12.935977

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 0418:
Picture Archiving and Communication Systems
Samuel J. Dwyer III, Editor(s)