The objective of this research is to design, implement, and evaluate the impact of a high performance tele-imaging tested network linking four medical centers (University of California at San Francisco, Mt. Zion Hospital, San Francisco VA Medical Center, and San Francisco General Hospital) in the San Francisco Bay Area for transmission, management, and remote learning of brain and breast images and associated medical data. The hypothesis to be tested is that a high performance tele- imaging information infrastructure will have an impact on the improvement of health care delivery for neuro-imaging and breast imaging and should contribute to a more effective use of both imaging specialist and hospital capacity. The tele-imaging infrastructure will support five modes of operation: telediagnosis, teleconsultation, telemanagement, teleresearch, and tele-education. This testbed network utilizes some existing high speed imaging networks as well as neuro-imaging and breast imaging infrastructure components developed in other related research projects.
