The effect of bandwidth on the quality of transmitted pediatric echocardiograms

Background Remote access to pediatric cardiology diagnostic services is enabled by real-time transmission of echocardiographic images. Several transmission bandwidths have been used but there has been little analysis of image quality provided by different bandwidths. We designed a study of the quality of transmitted images at various bandwidths. Methods Two echocardiographers viewed randomly a series of 13 recorded pediatric echocardiographic images either directly or after transmission using 1 of 4 bandwidths: 256; 384; 512; or 768 kbps. An image clarity scoring scale was used to assess image quality of cardiac structures. Results Measurable differences were found in image quality with different transmission bandwidths; 512 kbps was the minimum for consistently clear imaging of all cardiac structures examined. Conclusion Bandwidth greater than 512 kbps confers sharper images subjectively although this could not be quantified by our methods.