2000-BEYOND

      The continual development of Picture Archiving and Communications Systems (PACS) forecasts completely digital, computer controlled medical imaging departments. The Internet will enable use of small software programs, 'JAVA applets', to provide additional functionality such as analysis or animation, on Java compliant browsers.²⁹

      In addition to what has been discussed in this assignment, the computer environment continues to change. This includes monitor resolution, image brightness, colour, contrast, magnification and data storage media such as optical discs. The advent of computers has played a major role in nuclear medicine, as we know it today. There is far more quantitation, and images are of a quality not even imagined 50 years ago. We can only imagine where the next 50 years may lead us.