This makes the system fully compatible with most medical imaging devices in the market, solving one of the main problems encountered in the introduction of modern telecommunication technologies in the clinical world. A trial plan was defined to perform technical, economic and usability evaluations, which could be used as guidelines for the introduction of advanced communication services in healthcare. The project consortium has 12 hospitals as end-users with a well known group of experts to evaluate the trial results. The remote consultation application was the most demanded for the interconnection of specialised medical centres. This application allows interactive sharing of images and patient information between a doctor, who has made a primary diagnosis of the patient, and a remote specialist who is asked for a second opinion.
Image quality is considered very good for diagnostic purposes.
A major requirement for the acceptance of telemedicine is its integration with existing medical equipment. Human interaction with the new technologies is vital. Users must be taken into account as early as possible in the design stages and need to be adequately trained in the use of the various systems. Failure to do so will most likely lead to underachievement. The market and the network equipment used are very heterogeneous.