1. A medical system architecture for interactive transmission and progressive representation of compressed image data of multi-component images, comprising: at least one imaging modality that acquires image data from a subject representing examination images each having a slice thickness within the subject from which said image data are obtained; for each imaging modality, a computer workstation associated therewith that processes the image data acquired by the associated imaging modality; a communication network in communication with said computer workstation that transfers said examination images, after processing in the computer workstation, to locations remote from said computer workstation; a storage device in communication with said communication network that stores said examination images; at least one further workstation in communication with said communication network that post-processes the examination images processed in said computer workstation; a compression device in communication with said computer network that compresses and organizes the image data representing said examination images and stores the compressed data in packets, as packetized image data, with a parameter linked to the respective packets, said parameter defines permissible access to the respective packets, and specifies a slice thickness progression; and a decompression device in communication with said communication network that decompresses the packetized image data packet-by-packet dependent on a request from said further workstation and dependent on said parameter, to cause a multi-component image to be generated at said further workstation composed of a plurality of said examination images, with the respective examination images in said multi-component images having a selectively variable slice thickness, along said slice thickness progression, that is selected dependent on said parameter.