One of the most notable aspects of the 2003 CARS meeting might have been not what was presented or who attended, but who didn't attend. Because of visa difficulties, delegations from Ukraine and China were unable to take part in the conference.

In 2003, hospital and regional networks connect healthcare providers around the world, from subspecialist imagers in Poland to SARS-quarantined hospitals in Beijing. Such networks were pioneered in a handful of forward-looking hospitals or regions just a few years ago, but today they are rapidly becoming an integral part of medical life.

With such technology becoming ubiquitous, many of the highlights of the CARS meeting focused on filling in the gaps in systems and addressing standards. A virtual microscope, for example, could bring the same portability to the laboratory that PACS-oriented radiology departments now enjoy. A mobile mammography clinic can bring urban subspecialty reading skills instantly to populations that may lack more than the most basic medical facilities. Countries and regions just starting to work on integration, meanwhile, can draw on the rapidly growing body of expertise created by the Integrating the Healthcare Enterprise and the standards it is developing for data transfer.

Read this report of highlights from the 2003 CARS meeting for a look at the rapid changes shaping imaging and medical diagnosis, and keep it to compare with future meetings. In a field that advances in months, not years, the changes possible for 2004 or 2005 are tremendous.