Development of an ATM-based radiology consultation workstation for radiotherapy treatment planning

ABSTRACT The Radiology Consultation WorkStation (RCWS) is a multimedia, medical imaging workstation beingdeveloped for use in an electronic radiology environment, utilizing a prototype Asynchronous Transfer Mode(ATM) telemedicine network, in support of radiotherapy treatment planning. A radiation oncologist in theRadiation Oncology Department, and a radiologist in the Diagnostic Radiology Department, will be able toconsult, utilizing high-quality audio/video channels and high-resolution medical image displays, prior to the design of a treatment plan. Organ and lesion contouring is performed via a shared-cursor feature, in a consultation mode, allowing medical specialists to fully interact during the identification and delineation of lesions and other features.Keywords: Telemedicine, Multimedia System, ATM Network, Medical Consultation, Medical Imaging 1. INTRODUCTION The development of the National Research and Education Network (NREN) was one of the five majorcomponents mandated under the Federal High Performance Computing and Communications (HPCC)Program, by the High Performance Computing Act of 199 1 . The