Low-cost digital teleradiology systems.

The proliferation of digital imaging methods creates a need for systems that facilitate storage and retrieval of these images. Several low-cost systems with the capability to store, retrieve, and transmit digital images from the medical center to distant general-purpose desktop microcomputers over standard telephone lines were investigated. Using error checking and nonlinear gray scales, both bistable and gray scale display systems were able to transmit and reproduce diagnostic quality images. The major limitations are the lack of low-cost digital mass-storage devices and relatively slow transmission times.