Interactive multicentre teleconferences using open source software in a team of thoracic surgeons

Summary Real-time consultation between a team of thoracic surgeons is important for the management of difficult cases. We established a system for interactive teleconsultation between multiple sites, based on open-source software. The graphical desktop-sharing system VNC (virtual network computing) was used for remotely controlling another computer. An image-processing package (OsiriX) was installed on the server to share the medical images. We set up a voice communication system using Voice Chatter, a free, cross-platform voice communication application. Four hospitals participated in the trials. One was connected by gigabit ethernet, one by WiMAX and one by ADSL. Surgeons at three of the sites found that it was comfortable to view images and consult with each other using the teleconferencing system. However, it was not comfortable using the client that connected via WiMAX, because of dropped frames. Apart from the WiMAX connection, the VNC-based screen-sharing system transferred the clinical images efficiently and in real time. We found the screen-sharing software VNC to be a good application for medical image interpretation, especially for a team of thoracic surgeons using multislice CT scans.