Basic Features of Teleradiology

Teleradiology is a subcategory of telemedicine operation focusing in remote diagnosis of medical images. Teleradiology uses computer, display and telecommunication technologies for radiologists to make remote diagnosis from radiological images generated at distant examination sites. The diagnostic report is sent to the examination site where a primary physician can provide suitable treatments to the patient right away.

Related: Telemedicine

The figure below shows an example of a setup illustrating a Generic Teleradiology system:

Depending on the required turnaround time in obtaining the diagnosis from the examination site, the expert center has three reading modes: telediagnosis, teleconsultation and telemanagement illustrated in the figure below:

These reading modes dictate the communication needs of transmitting the images between the sites.

The Importance of Teleradiology

Teleradiology plays an important role in radiology practice. Some of the reasons why it is utilized are:

• Teleradiology secures images for radiologists to read so that no images will be accidentally lost in transit.
• Teleradiology reduces the reporting cycle time after the image is generated.
• Since radiology is subdivided into many sub-specialities, a general radiologist requires a specialist’s second opinion on occasion. The availability of Teleradiology facilitates seeking a second opinion.
• In healthcare, it saves costs since an expert center can serve multiple sites reducing the number of radiologists needed, additionally, it improves the efficiency and effectiveness of healthcare because the report turnaround time is reduced and there is no loss of image.

Also Read: Biotelemetry