The foreseeable future of image storage and transfer is that all data will be manipulated in a digital format. Therefore, this
article will review digital imaging concepts, current efforts towards standardization of software for image transfer, methods
presently necessary to reduce the massive data volumes to allow economic storage and transfer and finally, review the ultimate
image transfer environment, telemedicine. I will discuss some important issues in regulation and legislation which will have a
fundamental and dominant impact on how this technology is justified, distributed, utilized and sustained