Observer findings were determined to be highly concordant between the two methods. However, while image quality on the iPhone was considered excellent, download speed was significantly slower compared to the PACS workstation. And the iPhone's smaller field-of-view also contributed to longer interpretation times compared to PACS.

Presenter Supriya Gupta, MD, noted, though, that the day may soon come when mobile devices will not only display images but capture, gather, and aggregate information so well that radiologists and referring physicians may interact sparingly, if at all, with the RIS and PACS.

"Being able to send radiology reports and images to mobile devices will be a selling point for the services of a radiology group or hospital," Gupta told AuntMinnie.com.