Realtime ultrasound screening by satellite telecommunication.
Realtime ultrasound screening was carried out using a medical examination vehicle equipped with a diagnostic ultrasound scanner and a satellite telecommunication system. Screening was performed on 205 residents in a rural community in Japan and consisted of 57 cardiac, 57 abdominal, 60 thyroid and 31 breast ultrasound scans. The resolution of the realtime ultrasound images sent via communications satellite at 1.5 Mbit/s was almost identical to that of the original images taken by the ultrasound scanner. A disorder was diagnosed in 11 (19%) of the cardiac examinations, 28 (49%) of the abdominal, 19 (32%) of the thyroid and 7 (23%) of the breast examinations. Although some technical problems occurred, ultrasound screening by telemedicine appears to be a promising technique for those who live in rural communities.
Miyashita
Toyohisa
T
Department of Medical Informatics, Shinshu University School of Medicine, Japan. toyo@hsp.md.shinshu-u.ac.jp
Takizawa
Masaomi
M
Nakai
Keiji
K
Okura
Hirofumi
H
Kanda
Hirohito
H
Murase
Sumio
S
Ichijo
Tetsuya
T
Karaki
Yoshiaki
Y
Oue
Toru
T
Yagi
Kazuo
K
D006801:Humans; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000458:organization & administration*; D008875:Middle Aged; D019035:Rural Health Services / Q000458:organization & administration*; D017215:Satellite Communications; D014463:Ultrasonography / Q000379:methods*