Introduction
Teleradiology—the electronic transmission of images across
long distances for consultation and review—has become increasingly
recognized as an invaluable tool throughout the
world. This is particularly true in disadvantaged, underserved
regions that may not have easy access to specialty-trained
radiologists. With the persistent acceleration of mobile technology
and improved digitization of images, the possibilities
for seamless image transfer to support diagnostic interpretation
continue to grow. Despite the lack of high bandwidth
networks and advanced equipment, underserved populations
tend to have nearly universal access to smartphones. For example,
in South Africa, there were 68,934,000 mobile cellular
subscriptions in 2012 [1] for a population of 58,800,000 individuals,
[2] taking into account that some users have multiple
subscriptions. In all of Africa, there were 69.3 mobile cellular
subscriptions in 2014 per 100 people [1]. Unlike some telemedicine
and teleradiology endeavors such as videoconferencing
and evolving cloud-based picture archiving and communication
systems (PACS), which have been more widely
accepted in higher income regions, smartphones are inexpensive,
user-friendly, and readily available.