Radiology is one of the more challenging areas of eHealth because the size of the digital images are so large, Wilson noted. A typical chest X-ray could be 10MB, while a mammography image could be 60MB, he said. "When you are able to overcome that challenge of sending data over networks that are so large, the rest becomes pretty simple from a performance perspective," he said.

Traditionally in the business of the radiology department, Agfa HealthCare has about 60 per cent of the market share in Canada, noted Wilson. Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and PEI are 100 per cent Agfa PACS using the IMPAX product line. Alberta and Manitoba follow second at nearly 100 per cent. In Ontario, B.C. and Quebec, Agfa represents roughly 30 to 40 per cent of the market.

The most recent deployment of Agfa's integrated PACS solution, which consists of IMPAX 6 PACS and DI-r (Diagnostic Imaging Repositories that act as a central archive for long-term storage), took place in Eastern Quebec.

The company rolled out its solution to 51 sites in within 18 months, after being selected as the preferred vendor for the Quebec Government's request for proposal to implement a PACS solution across the RUIS of Université Laval region in late 2006.

Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Québec (CHUQ) completed their implementation in the winter of 2008. Based in Quebec City, the CHUQ network includes three hospitals and five clinics and serves approximately two million people.