Which telecommunication media can be used in teleradiology?
Depending on data-transfer rate requirements and economic considerations, images can be transmitted by means of common telephone lines (twisted pairs of copper wire), digital phone lines (ISDN, switched-56, etc.), coaxial cable, fiber-optic cable, microwave, satellite, and frame relay or T1 telecommunication links. Today most teleradiology systems run over standard telephone lines. Over the next couple of years, we should see a substantial migration to switched-56 and ISDN (Integrated Services Digital Network) lines, which offer higher speed and better line quality than standard dial-up phone lines. Other high-speed lines, including T1 and SMDS (shared multimegabit data services) will also become more popular as prices continue to drop. • What is meant by image-bit size? Digital images, whether viewed on a computer monitor, transmitted over a phone line, or stored on a hard disk or archival medium, are pictures that have a certain spatial resolution. The spatial resolution, or size, of
