Abstract

The paper describes the teleradiology activity carried out in Tuscany using a metropolitan area network (MAN). The MAN links more than 25 institutions in Pisa and Florence. Some of them give access to additional sites with a total of more than 40 local area networks (LAN) connected at 34 Mbit/s or at 2 Mbit/s. The two subnetworks operating at 140 Mbit/s in Pisa and Florence are interconnected by means of a 34 Mbit/s bidirectional link. Each LAN is linked to the MAN-bridging interface using a multiprotocol router. The main protocol stack at higher level is TCP/IP and now the Tuscany MAN is seen as a broadband IP island connected to the Internet. In Pisa, teleradiology is used for ensuring the high-performance link between the two remote units that are part of the Department of Radiology. Beyond this 'classical' teleradiology applications the Tuscany MAN enabled also remote processing of diagnostic images and continuing education initiatives in the field of

Keywords: images - display, processing, storage and retrieval, transmission