A real-life case: teleradiology network for Congo – France

Interview with Dr. Axel Kayembe, TéléradX

As a radiologist, I believe that access to high quality medical imaging should not depend on where a patient lives.

In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, imaging equipment is gradually becoming more accessible, but access to qualified radiologists and, above all, to highly specialized expertise remains limited in many regions.

My goal is to help bridge this gap by connecting Congolese healthcare facilities to a network of qualified radiologists, particularly specialists practicing internationally.

Teleradiology brings expertise directly to the patient rather than requiring the patient to travel to access it. For me, this project is therefore not just about technology: it is, above all, a project aimed at improving access to radiological expertise.

My connection to the Congo is both personal and professional. I am originally from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and for many years in my hometown, I personally experienced the difficulties associated with accessing advanced and highly specialized radiological expertise.

Having completed much of my medical and radiology training in France, I had the opportunity not only to develop my own expertise but also to build a professional network of radiologists with different skills and subspecialties.

I therefore wanted to find a way to make this expertise available to my community in the Congo. Teleradiology then struck me as the most logical solution: rather than moving the experts, we can bring their expertise directly to the community.

One of the main challenges is the gap between the growing availability of imaging equipment and the number of radiologists available to interpret these exams quickly and consistently.

This challenge becomes even more significant when highly specialized expertise is required, such as in musculoskeletal imaging, neuroradiology, or women’s health imaging.

Added to this are practical and technical issues. In the absence of suitable solutions, the transfer of exams sometimes relies on consumer-grade tools such as WhatsApp or WeTransfer, which are not designed to support a true professional teleradiology workflow. This raises questions regarding the transfer of DICOM data, data security, the organization of the reporting process, communication between clinicians and radiologists, as well as the need to deliver results within timeframes compatible with patient care.

I was therefore looking for a solution capable of integrating these various challenges into a single, simple, secure, and structured workflow.

I discovered radiance365 while actively researching digital solutions that could fit the teleradiology model I had in mind.

It was notably through this research that i gained a broader understanding of the concept of Cloud PACS and the various architectures that now make it possible to organize teleradiology around the cloud.

Artificial intelligence tools then allowed me to more effectively explore and compare different platforms based on their technical specifications, architecture, features, and suitability for our project’s requirements.

It was during this process of research and comparison that radiance365 gradually stood out from the other solutions i had evaluated.

During my research, radiance365 first caught my attention because the solution wasn’t limited to offering just a PACS or a DICOM viewer. It offered a much more comprehensive approach to teleradiology, ranging from the transfer of images and clinical information to the management and assignment of exams, their interpretation, and finally the production and transmission of the report. In short, the entire teleradiology workflow could be managed within a single platform.

Another feature that particularly appealed to me was the simplicity of the architecture. I wanted to avoid deploying a heavy and complex IT infrastructure in each facility. With radiance365, the on-premises architecture could remain very simple: a computer serving as a local server and a gateway connecting the facility’s imaging environment to the cloud-hosted platform.

This significantly reduced the initial investment in infrastructure. Furthermore, as part of our project, the on-site installation of this gateway was offered at no additional cost. All these features seemed particularly well-suited to a project intended for environments where IT, technical, and financial resources may be limited.

But this simplicity was not to come at the expense of quality. I was looking for a robust solution, suitable for genuine professional radiology practice. The inclusion of an integrated diagnostic viewer was therefore one of my key criteria.

The integration of MedDream played a decisive role in my decision. I had already been using MedDream for about three years and was therefore familiar with its interface and features. Finding a viewer that I knew, liked, and already trusted directly integrated into the radiance365 workflow was particularly reassuring.

The combination of its simple architecture, DICOM connectivity, cloud capabilities, comprehensive exam management, reporting, and workflow automation, along with MedDream, finally convinced me that radiance365 was the best solution for our project.

Several factors were essential for us: patient data security, integration with the software architecture already installed on-site, streamlined exam management from acquisition through interpretation and distribution to radiologists, structured reporting, and the transmission of reports to the requesting facility.

I also wanted a certified diagnostic viewer, which was an important criterion for me for professional use in radiology.

We also needed a system that would allow us to start with a relatively small pilot site and then gradually integrate other facilities, other imaging modalities, and more radiologists.

This scalability is particularly important to us, as our goal is not merely to establish a connection with a single facility, but to gradually develop an infrastructure capable of supporting a broader network. Radiance365 met the vast majority of these requirements.

radiance365 transforms what could be a fragmented process into a structured, unified digital workflow.

Thanks to the gateway installed on-site, images acquired locally can be securely transferred to the platform. When creating the interpretation request, the radiology technician enters the relevant clinical information, and the exam is then made available to the radiologist, who can interpret it remotely and send the report to the requesting facility.

This entire process is thus consolidated within a single platform, which was precisely what we were looking for.

Above all, the architecture of radiance365 allows us to draw on a pool of qualified radiologists, rather than relying on a single radiologist. Exams can thus be assigned based on their availability and, eventually, their various subspecialties.

For the requesting facility, the process had to remain as simple as possible—and it certainly is. Ultimately, the goal can be summarized as follows: perform the exam, transmit it, and receive a high-quality radiology report.

The first point of contact was particularly straightforward. After requesting a demo directly through the radiance365 website, I quickly received an email response and was put in touch with a representative who took the time to listen to me and understand my project.

Rather than immediately presenting me with a standardized proposal, I was first asked to explain in detail exactly what I wanted to implement, the environment in which the solution would operate, our expected volume of business, and the constraints we were facing.

This was particularly important since our project is operating in a relatively low revenue environment, with an initially low-to-medium volume of business. The proposals I received were therefore tailored to the reality and scale of the project, rather than offering us an infrastructure that was oversized for our needs.

The process then unfolded step by step: presentation of the platform, definition of the technical architecture, configuration of the local gateway, connection to our PACS environment, securing communication with the cloud, training, and then testing with actual exams. I particularly appreciated this step-by-step and personalized approach.

The support was both technical and operational, with direct and regular communication throughout the project.

In particular, we held at least three videoconference meetings at key stages: the first focused on the product presentation and demonstration, another on training and hands-on practice, and a third to gather our feedback after the initial testing and use of the platform.

At the same time, we were able to communicate directly with the people involved in project coordination, development, and security-related matters.

Whenever we encountered a technical or workflow-related issue, we could report it, explain it directly to the team, and quickly receive feedback or a proposed adjustment.

The deployment was organized in successive stages: defining the technical architecture, installing local components, establishing connectivity, testing DICOM transfers, configuring reporting, training users, and then conducting trials with actual exams.

Adjustments were naturally necessary, particularly due to technical and infrastructural constraints specific to the local environment, but they were addressed progressively.

This step-by-step approach seemed particularly well-suited to this type of project. Rather than trying to deploy everything at once, we were able to gradually validate each component and identify any potential difficulties before moving on to the next step.

This is one aspect of our collaboration with which I am very satisfied.

From the start, our interactions have been direct, personalized, and responsive. I never felt like we were simply purchasing a standardized software solution to which we then had to adapt our entire organization.

The team really took the time to understand our project, its objectives, and, above all, the specific constraints of our environment.

Whenever I provided feedback or reported an issue, I felt that it was truly taken into account. We could discuss it directly, and whenever possible, the team sought to make practical or technical adjustments.

I am therefore very satisfied with the quality of the relationship and the support we received.

Several aspects particularly stood out to me.

First of all, I appreciated the platform’s presentation. Despite the technical complexity that can lie behind a teleradiology solution, the interface and overall functionality are easy to grasp.

I also really appreciated how quick and easy it was to get started. The learning curve is relatively short, which is particularly important when a platform needs to be used not only by radiologists but also by staff at referring facilities.

Another key factor was the responsiveness of my contacts at radiance365. Whenever we had a question, encountered a difficulty, or wanted to suggest an improvement, communication was straightforward and responses were prompt.

What probably pleasantly surprised me the most was how quickly the concept became a reality.

A teleradiology system connecting Africa and Europe may seem technically complex when you consider DICOM transfer, connectivity, security, cloud infrastructure, remote visualization, and reporting.

However, once the architecture was set up, we were able to see actual exams performed locally appear remotely within a structured workflow.

That moment was particularly significant because it demonstrated that the model was no longer merely theoretical, it actually worked in practice.

I was also pleasantly surprised by the simplicity of the workflow from the user’s perspective, despite all the technical complexity that inevitably exists behind the scenes.

I particularly appreciate the centralized worklist, exam management, and the integration of the MedDream viewer. The MedDream integration is especially valuable to me because it allows me to use a viewing environment I’m already familiar with and that meets professional standards.

But i believe that radiance365’s main strength does not lie in any single technical feature.

Its true strength lies in the integration of all these components into a coherent workflow, from the receipt of the exam through its interpretation to the transmission of the final report. It is this integration that, in my opinion, makes the platform so valuable for teleradiology.

The workflow I find most practical is the complete chain from acquisition to diagnosis: Exam acquisition → local PACS → secure gateway → radiance365 → clinical information → radiologist’s worklist → image interpretation → report → requesting facility.

The facility performs the exam, the radiologist receives an organized case file for interpretation, and the clinician receives the final report.

The technology thus connects the various steps without unnecessarily complicating the process. It is precisely this simplicity and continuity of the workflow that I was looking for.

Since our project is still in an early phase of deployment, it would be premature to precisely quantify its financial impact.

Thanks to radiance365, however, we can now plan to gradually expand from a pilot facility to multiple clinics while maintaining a centralized interpretation system.

This architecture also allows us to gradually scale the technological infrastructure and network of radiologists in line with activity levels, rather than requiring very significant investments from the outset.

For us, the economic value therefore lies primarily in the pooling of resources and the ability to scale up: a single digital infrastructure that can potentially connect multiple healthcare facilities to a distributed network of radiologists.

Ultimately, this model could enable us to build an economically sustainable teleradiology business.