Development of a Web-based picture archiving and communication system using satellite data communication

Using the JAVA language we have developed a Web-based picture archiving and communication system (PACS) which allows a remote hospital to access medical images. An asymmetric satellite data communication system (ASDCS) provided a receive-only link for data delivery and a conventional terrestrial link (which could be the conventional telephone network) allowed data transmission. The satellite communication link was 10-30 times faster than the conventional terrestrial link. To increase image transmission speeds over the Internet connection, JPEG and wavelet compression methods were used. The resulting images were evaluated quantitatively by measuring the peak signal:noise ratio and qualitatively by radiologists. Compression ratios of 10:1 or less were deemed acceptable for diagnostic purposes. The system appears to be suitable for teleradiology and telemedicine.