Editing Radiology (section)

=== Teleradiology ===

{{main|Teleradiology}}

Teleradiology is the transmission of radiographic images from one location to another for interpretation by an appropriately trained professional, usually a radiologist or reporting radiographer. It is most often used to allow rapid interpretation of emergency room, ICU and other emergent examinations after hours of usual operation, at night and on weekends. In these cases, the images can be sent across time zones (e.g. to Spain, Australia, India) with the receiving Clinician working his normal daylight hours. However, at present, large private teleradiology companies in the U.S. currently provide most after-hours coverage employing night-working radiologists in the U.S. Teleradiology can also be used to obtain consultation with an expert or subspecialist about a complicated or puzzling case. In the U.S., many hospitals outsource their radiology departments to radiologists in India due to the lowered cost and availability of high speed internet access.{{citation needed|date=May 2024}}

Teleradiology requires a sending station, a high-speed internet connection, and a high-quality receiving station. At the transmission station, plain [[radiography|radiographs]] are passed through a digitizing machine before transmission, while CT, MRI, ultrasound and nuclear medicine scans can be sent directly, as they are already digital data. The computer at the receiving end will need to have a high-quality display screen that has been tested and cleared for clinical purposes. Reports are then transmitted to the requesting clinician.

The major advantage of teleradiology is the ability to use different time zones to provide real-time emergency radiology services around-the-clock. The disadvantages include higher costs, limited contact between the referrer and the reporting Clinician, and the inability to cover for procedures requiring an onsite reporting Clinician. Laws and regulations concerning the use of teleradiology vary among the states, with some requiring a license to practice medicine in the state sending the radiologic exam. In the U.S., some states require the teleradiology report to be preliminary with the official report issued by a hospital staff radiologist. Lastly, a benefit of teleradiology is that it might be automated with modern [[machine learning]] techniques.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Wang S, Summers RM | title = Machine learning and radiology | journal = Medical Image Analysis | volume = 16 | issue = 5 | pages = 933–51 | date = July 2012 | pmid = 22465077 | pmc = 3372692 | doi = 10.1016/j.media.2012.02.005 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Zhang Z, Sejdić E | title = Radiological images and machine learning: Trends, perspectives, and prospects | journal = Computers in Biology and Medicine | volume = 108 | pages = 354–370 | date = February 2019 | pmid = 31054502 | doi = 10.1016/j.compbiomed.2019.02.017 | pmc=6531364| arxiv = 1903.11726 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Thrall JH, Li X, Li Q, Cruz C, Do S, Dreyer K, Brink J | title = Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning in Radiology: Opportunities, Challenges, Pitfalls, and Criteria for Success | journal = Journal of the American College of Radiology | volume = 15 | issue = 3 Pt B | pages = 504–508 | date = March 2018 | pmid = 29402533 | doi = 10.1016/j.jacr.2017.12.026 | s2cid = 3703894 }}</ref>
[[File:X-ray of hand, where bone age is automatically found by BoneXpert software.jpg|thumb|[[Projectional radiography|X-ray]] of a hand with calculation of [[bone age]] analysis]]