title: Preliminary results from the Northern Ireland arms of the UK Multicentre Teledermatology Trial: effect of camera performance on diagnostic accuracy.
abstract: The diagnostic accuracy of realtime teledermatology was measured using two different video cameras. One camera was a relatively low-cost, single-chip device (camera 1), while the other was a more expensive three-chip camera (camera 2). The diagnosis obtained via the videolink was compared with the diagnosis made in person. Sixty-five new patients referred to a dermatology clinic were examined using camera 1 followed by a standard face-to-face consultation. A further 65 patients were examined using camera 2 and the same procedure applied. Seventy-six per cent of conditions were correctly diagnosed by telemedicine using camera 2 compared with 59% using camera 1. A working differential diagnosis was obtained in 12% of cases using camera 2 compared with 17% using camera 1. The percentage of 'no diagnosis', wrong and missed diagnoses was halved using camera 2 compared with camera 1. These results suggest that the performance of camera 2 was superior to that of camera 1 for realtime teledermatology.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Telemedicine & Telecare, Queen's University, Belfast, UK.
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Loane
authors.forename: H E
authors.initials: HE
authors.lastname: Gore
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Corbett
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Steele
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Mathews
authors.forename: S E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Bloomer
authors.forename: D J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Eedy
authors.forename: R W
authors.initials: RW
authors.lastname: Telford
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Wootton
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D016288:Computer Terminals / Q000592:standards*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009660:Northern Ireland; D019114:Remote Consultation / Q000295:instrumentation*; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D012871:Skin Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis*; D019113:Telepathology