title: Instant wireless transmission of radiological images using a personal digital assistant phone for emergency teleconsultation.
abstract: The instant transmission of radiological images may be important for making rapid clinical decisions about emergency patients. We have examined an instant image transfer system based on a personal digital assistant (PDA) phone with a built-in camera. Images displayed on a picture archiving and communication systems (PACS) monitor can be captured by the camera in the PDA phone directly. Images can then be transmitted from an emergency centre to a remote physician via a wireless high-bandwidth network (CDMA 1 x EVDO). We reviewed the radiological lesions in 10 normal and 10 abnormal cases produced by modalities such as computerized tomography (CT), magnetic resonance (MR) and digital angiography. The images were of 24-bit depth and 1,144 x 880, 1,120 x 840, 1,024 x 768, 800 x 600, 640 x 480 and 320 x 240 pixels. Three neurosurgeons found that for satisfactory remote consultation a minimum size of 640 x 480 pixels was required for CT and MR images and 1,024 x 768 pixels for angiography images. Although higher resolution produced higher clinical satisfaction, it also required more transmission time. At the limited bandwidth employed, higher resolutions could not be justified.
authors.affiliation: Graduate School of Biomedical Engineering, Yonsei University, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Dong-Keun
authors.initials: DK
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Sun K
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Yoo
authors.forename: Sun H
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Kim
mesh_terms: D040421:Cell Phone; D003201:Computers; D004630:Emergencies; D005240:Feasibility Studies; D006801:Humans; D011856:Radiographic Image Enhancement / Q000379:methods; D019114:Remote Consultation / Q000295:instrumentation*; D013686:Telemetry / Q000295:instrumentation; D019112:Teleradiology / Q000295:instrumentation*