1996 AAPM Annual Meeting

AAPMnet Network Demonstration


History

The idea for an AAPM network during 1995 Annual Meeting developed out of two independent conversations. During the 1994 Annual Meeting, Marty Weinhous and myself discussed the idea of having Internet accessibility during the AAPM Meeting, noting how useful it was for keeping up with messages while away [we both use it extensively during the RSNA meetings]. During the 1994 ASTRO meeting, Dave Neblett and I discussed the idea of the exhibitor network, noting the difficulty many physicists have in understanding the conformance statements of DICOM, and thus the issues in purchasing equipment that was "DICOM-ready". At that time, Dave volunteered the use of a file server from ROCS for such a network.

With this start, I arranged a meeting during the RSNA meeting to see what interest there was in such a network. Representatives from ROCS, SSGI, RAHD, MKS, and several other companies attended the meeting, and it was decided that there was interest in proceeding with the project. Coincidentally, another meeting was being held during the RSNA to start a working group to develop a radiation oncology extension to DICOM. The concept of the AAPMnet was brought up during that meeting, and more interest was expressed.


AAPMnet

Connecting to the Internet is not free. There were cost associated with the telephone line [a T1 line with total throughput of 1.544 Mb/s] running from the local Internet Resource , and the wiring and equiment needed to distribute the network to the participants and the public areas.

Return to AAPM Annual Meeting Page