Technical evaluation of a low-bandwidth, Internet-based system for teleconsultations.
A low-bandwidth telemedicine system was evaluated in eight community hospitals connected to a central hospital via the Internet. PCs were used with videoconferencing software and modem connections to the telephone network. The average data connection rates, still-image transfer times and live-video transmission rates were determined. The time to send 640 x 480, 320 x 240 and 160 x 120 pixel, 24-bit still images ranged from 29 s to 411 s. The average file transfer times for a 10 s MPEG video-clip was 8.6 min. The average live video frame rate was 1 frame/s (at the best image quality), with an average latency of 3 s. The results suggest that Internet-based videoconferencing is acceptable for certain telemedicine applications.
Institute for Rehabilitation Research and Development, Ottawa, Canada. elemaire@rohcg.on.ca
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Lemaire
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Boudrias
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Greene
D002170:Canada; D006764:Hospitals, Community; D006801:Humans; D020407:Internet / Q000295:instrumentation*; D019114:Remote Consultation / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000592:standards; D019035:Rural Health Services / Q000458:organization & administration; D013685:Telecommunications / Q000295:instrumentation