Teleradiology applications in a broadband communication field trial

The problems related to the assessment of teleradiology applications are outlined and discussed, in the framework of a field trial broadband communication experiment, involving both medical and technical cooperating institutions. The network is based on an optical fiber MAN working at 140 Mbit/s with DQDB protocol (IEEE 802.6, based on Alcatel technology) currently connecting 17 nodes in the metropolitan area of Florence and linked, via a MAN-to-MAN interconnection operating at 34 Mbit/s, to a similar network with 10 nodes in the city of Pisa. The main requirements of teleradiology services are examined and compared with preliminary network performance measurements, in order to evaluate service potentialities and limitations. Devised database management applications and image compression techniques, with reference to transmission and image quality problems are also described.