WEB technology--the future of teleradiology?

With the widespread use of the Internet, standard browsers are widely available in radiological and clinical departments. So far the limited speed of the Internet has made teleradiology via the Internet too slow for practical use, but many hospital LANs are now connected to the World Wide Web through high speed access. The new JavaScript technology has made it possible to view examinations with web browsers as simple images instead of sending the full examination data. The full data from the examination remains on the server in the radiology department. If changes in window, level, size, zoom factor etc. are required, corrections are made locally in the web browser with JavaScript, and a new simple image is sent from the server. Web browser technology is now offered by most PACS companies and a new de facto standard for image viewing is emerging.