Piqueras J, Carreno JC, Treguier C, Vazquez E, Lucaya J, Eichelberg M; International Society of Technology Assessment in Health Care. Meeting.
Annu Meet Int Soc Technol Assess Health Care Int Soc Technol Assess Health Care Meet. 1997; 13: 116.
Radiology, Hospital Materno-Infantil Vall d'Hebron, Barcelona, Spain.
INTRODUCTION: An international consortium of companies and hospitals was set to develop and evaluate the user needs, capabilities, and user acceptance of an advanced multimedia teleradiology system using ATM technology. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A radiology workstation, developed for the project and following the DICOM standard, was adjoined to a prototype ATM multimedia terminal adapter allowing to add high quality videoconference to cooperative image reviewing. Standard videoboard systems and ISDN conferencing systems were used and compared. Public Paneuropean ATM (34 Mbit/sec) and ISDN (12 x 64 Kbit/sec) networks were used for communications. In addition to digital images, real time ultrasound, fluoroscopy and endoscopy were exchanged. User and technical data were collected by automatic activity logging, videotape, and questionnaires. RESULTS: Digital images uploaded from local PACS or by film digitizing are satisfactorily exchanged and reviewed. Forty-two medical consultation sessions were held among participants, mimicking conventional meetings. ATM terminal adapter video quality was good for real-time medical examinations. Required bandwidth is 10 Mbit/sec (25000 ATM cells/sec): 7.5-9.5 Mbit/sec for videoconference and up to 8 Mbit/sec for data transfer and computer synchronization, with video image switched off. Technical problems were caused by the prototype nature of the system. DISCUSSION: Review performance was adequate for cooperative medical work. User acceptance of videoconference was excellent. Even low quality video, add-in board based, was adequate for one-to-one dialog, but group discussion, or real-time medical image trnsfer require high quality video provided by ATM video terminals. CONCLUSIONS: Videoconference and teleradiology are technologically feasible. Videoconference adds a better human interaction for remote cooperative medical work, creating virtual teams that may cross country barriers. Current cost of technology, reimbursement policies, and rigid health care systems preclude a ready diffusion of advanced cooperative work systems.
Publication Types:
Keywords:
- Evaluation Studies
- Health Services Needs and Demand
- Hospitals
- Humans
- Multimedia
- Radiology Information Systems
- Teleradiology
- methods
- hsrmtgs
Other ID:
UI: 102233214
From Meeting Abstracts