High-performance medical image communications via ACTS-HDR

Unique advantages of satellite communication over fiber-optic communication include on- demand linkage and easy access to remote or mobile sites. These advantages are particularly important in life-critical medical services of teleradiology, distributed treatment planning and medical triage support applications. This paper reports on experiments designed to use the supercomputer power, 3D volumetric modeling technology, and NASA ACTS (Advanced Communication Technology Satellite) Ka-band communication to validate the suite of deployable digital radiography technologies for image-based medical triage as well as remote cooperative delivery of health care. The success of the experiments demonstrates that high speed (giga-bit) satellite communication (particularly, ACTS) providing access (via the steerable antenna) to high performance computation and high resolution 3D visualization are not only practical but also crucial for many medical applications, especially for remote regions or moving populations. This demonstration is expected to stimulate new medical services as well as delivery mechanisms that transcend both time and distance barriers. The availability of remote access to supercomputing via high-speed portable connections will have a profound impact on the provision of image-based medical services, and this certainly bears important implications for future PACS development.