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Purpose: To assess the feasibility of image transfer for teleradiologic consultations using the Austrian Academic Computer Network (ACOnet). The ACOnet corresponds between the main universities to a MAN (Metropolitan Area Network) with a transfer rate of 4 Mbps. Its use is free of charge for university institutions., Materials and Methods: 1740 test image data sets and 620 image data sets for teleradiological consultations were exchanged without annotations between the Departments of Diagnostic Radiology of the universities of Innsbruck and Graz, using the ACOnet., Results: Data transmission was reliable and fast with an average transfer capacity of 170.2 kBytes/s (94-341 kBytes/s). There were no major problems with image transfer during the test phase., Conclusion: Due to its high transfer capacity, the ACOnet is considered a reasonable alternative to the ISDN service.

To study the value of the Austrian Academic Computer Network ACOnet for teleradiology, 1740 test image data-sets and 620 image data-sets were exchanged between the departments of diagnostic radiology of the Universities of Innsbruck and Graz using the ACOnet service. Data transmission was reliable and fast with an average transfer capacity of 170 kByte s range 94-341 . During the test phase, no major problems with image transfer occurred. Assuming that problems like security of patient data-sets, data compression and data verification can be solved, the ACOnet service would be a useful additional tool for telemedicine applications throughout Austria and eastern Europe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]