RIP: Radiology Internet Protocol.

Abstract

Radiology Internet Protocol (RIP) is an image transmission protocol designed to address the special needs of radiology World Wide Web (Web) servers. RIP preserves the ability to alter the window and level (W/L) settings of an image over the Internet from a remote location while maintaining short transmission times. RIP operates with a client-server paradigm and can be used for Web-based radiology teaching files or Internet-based teleradiology. The protocol itself is based on the concept of W/L partitioning, whereby the clinically most important W/L setting of an image is transmitted first. Supplementary data are appended to the initial transmitted image in the background while the user is reviewing the preliminary image. The time required to transmit the first image, or time-to-first-image, is comparable with that of graphics interchange format and Joint Photographic Expert Group (JPEG) files. The longer the user looks at an image, the more data are appended to it in the background. Ultimately, the user can view a received image at any W/L setting.