CDs got lost in transit. When they did arrive, the several days it took was still frustrating – and dangerous – because the tumor was growing at a furious rate.

When they learned about eMix, through another online search, the family contacted the company. That led to a dramatic intercession by eMix general manager Florent Saint-Clair that enabled the family to get the MRI to the U.S. team minutes after uploading it.

• eMix user facility Seattle Children's Hospital tells this story of another eMix-mediated file-swap between the U.S. and UK:

“We wanted to share this good news story with you and also take the opportunity to thank you. Once again you found time to help us provide vital imaging to a care provider and this time it truly was around the globe.

“The organization, Scoliosis SOS located in Suffolk, was in desperate need of imaging that we had of their patient for an upcoming prosthetic fitting appointment. Our ability to provide imaging to an untrained user on another continent speaks to the ease of use and portability of your product. Thanks again.”

• Because eMix has established a successful track record at the University of California San Diego, a radiologist there is now able to provide second opinion services for a physician in the Ukraine, with eMix used to transmit the radiology files.

• Health Canada, the government single-payer health system, recently OK'd the marketing of eMix in its country.

Such global exchanges are hardly news with ordinary commerce. But medical facilities have struggled even to move files within the same city because of proprietary information systems that are technological islands. With the cloud, however, islands are easily hopped, even if there's an ocean or more between them.