Development and evaluation of a teleradiology and videoconferencing system

We developed a teleradiology system linking a general hospital on Sado Island to tertiary care hospitals in Niigata City. The island is 40 km from Niigata City on the mainland and has only one diagnostic radiologist (for 72,000 islanders). Fibre optic cables between Sado Island and Niigata City were used for transmission. The introduction of the teleradiology system facilitated diagnostic and therapeutic consultation with specialists in Niigata City. The performance of the system was evaluated (on a scale of 0-6, with higher scores indicating better performance) by five diagnostic radiologists, who rated 32 features of the system twice, once in April 2002 and once in September 2003. The performance ratings improved from 1.38 to 2.86. While many of the initial problems with the software had been resolved, many still remained.