Teleradiology Uppsala-Sydney for nighttime emergencies: preliminary experience.
BACKGROUND
The development of digital imaging systems for radiology in combination with the possibility to transfer large quantities of data over the Internet has increased the interest in teleradiology. Transferring nighttime examinations to an evaluation center in a daytime zone may provide improved patient security, better working hours for radiologists, and reduced costs for emergency radiological services.


OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the time required for transferring radiological information from Uppsala (Sweden) to Sydney (Australia).


METHODS
A radiologist in Sydney reported on radiological examinations performed in Uppsala. The time required for downloading 75 examinations and returning 24 reports was registered.


RESULTS
Downloading was completed in <60 min for all conventional radiological examinations, but only 44% of computed tomography (CT) examinations with >65 images. Reports were completed in <10 min. Turnaround time was directly related to the time required for downloading the images. The Sydney report was available in Uppsala within 30 min of the in-house report in 79% of examinations.


CONCLUSIONS
The main challenge for emergency teleradiology is the time required for downloading large volumes of data over the Internet.
Eklöf
H
H
Department of Radiology, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden.
Radecka
E
E
Liss
P
P
D001315:Australia; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital; D011873:Radiology Information Systems; D013548:Sweden; D019112:Teleradiology / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D013997:Time Factors