TELEMEDICINE

“TELEMEDICINE PROVIDES HEALTHCARE WHERE THERE IS NONE ANDIMPROVES THE HEALTH CARE WHERE THERE IS SOME”

WHAT ISTELEMEDICINE ?Telemedicine is an upcoming field in health science arising out of the effective fusion of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) with Medical Science having enormous potential in meeting the challenges of healthcare delivery to rural and remote areas .

It may be as simple as two health professionals discussing medical problems of a patient and seeking advice over a simple telephone to as complex as transmission of  electronic medical records of clinical information, diagnostic tests such as BLOOD TESTS,URINE TESTS,BP etc,and carrying out real time interactive medical video conference with the help of IT based hardware and software, video-conference using broadband telecommunication media provided by satellite  and terrestrial network.

Healthcare in rural india

TYPES OF TELEMEDICINE PROCESS :

1.TECHNOLOGY INVOLVED

2.APPLICATION ADOPTED

TECHNOLOGY INVOLVED :REAL TIME OR SYNCHRONOUS:

Real time telemedicine could be as simple as a telephone call or as complex as telemedical video conference and tele-robotic surgery. It requires the presence of both parties at the same time and a  telecommunication link between them that allows a real-time interaction to take place. Video-conferencing equipment is one of the most common forms of technology used in synchronous telemedicine.

STORE-AND-FORWARD TELEMEDICINE OR ASYNCHRONOUS:

It involves acquiring medical data (like medical history, images, etc.) and then transmitting this data to a doctor or medical specialist at a convenient time later for assessment offline. It does not require the presence of both parties at the same time. Examples are tele-pathology, tele-radiology, tele-dermatolgy.

APPLICATION ADOPTED

1.Telepathology2.Telecardiology3.Teleradiology4.Telesurgery5.Teleopthalmology

Applications of telemedicine

Telemedicine during space program:

TELEMEDICINE FACILITY IN MOBILE VANS

1.Festivals and melas.2.During disasters.3.Emergency cases.4.Long journey like amarnath yatra .

Telemedicine also helps Through mobile vans during:

Telemedicine for defence personnel

The defence personnels used to give their duty at hard areas, so due to lack of hospital facility ,we can use telemedicine .Especially mobile vans are very helpful.

Benefits of telemedicine to patients :

1.Access to specialized healthcare services to under served rural, semi-urban and remote areas.2.Early diagnosis and treatment.3.Reduced physician’s fees and cost of medicine.4.Reduced visits to special hospitals.5.Reduced travel expenses.6.Early detection of disease.7. Reduced burden of morbidity.

CURRENT EFFORTSIN INDIA TELEMEDICINE PROGRAMS ACTIVELY SUPPORTED BY:

• Dept. of Information Technology• Indian Space Research Organization• ONGC (finding petroleum)• Apollo Hospitals• Asia Heart Foundation• State governments.

TELEMEDICINE INCLUDES MEMBERS FROM VARIOUS DEPARTMENTS

1.Health communication and information technology.

2.Indian space research organisation.3.Indian council of medical research.4.Medical council of india.5.Centre for development of advanced

computing.6.Academic medical institutions and

corporate health hospitals.

DEPARTMENTS ARE :

Telemedicine during melaFestivals/disasters

• Maha Kumbhamela– Attended by about 10 million people in about a month.

• Implemented by SGPGIMS, OTRI & State Govt. of uttar pradesh.–Tele-monitoring of Public Health activities.

telemedicine system

ACTUALLY WHAT HAPPENS DURING A TELEMEDICINE PROGRAM?

Typical communication system

Equipments required:

1. Personal computer.2. Laser printer.3. Video conferencing kit.4. Telemedicine software5. A3 film scanner.6. Digital microscope and camera.7. Glucometer .8. Haemogram analyzer.9. Non invasive pulse and blood pressure unit.10.Connectivity device and router.11.Multimedia speakers and headphone.12.EMR13.ECG

TELEMEDICINE TOOLS

Medical Diagnostic equipments

X-RAY DIGITIZER/SCANNER

TELE-PATHOLGY SYSTEM

TELE- ECG SYSTEM

DIGITAL STETHOSCOPE

CRUCIAL BRANCH OF TELEMEDICINE

TELE-IMAGING

WHAT IS TELE-IMAGING ?

Tele-imaging includes the transmission of medical digital images, and plays a role in all fields of telemedicine,such as expertise.consultation,teaching and research.

Tele-imaging tools :

1. Digital microscope.2. Digital X-ray.3. Digital mammography.4. Digital transparency scanner.5. Digital ECG.6. Digital ultrasound.

TELE- IMAGING EQUIPMENTS

Facilitating quality of tele-imaging:

1.DIGITALIZATION OF MEDICAL IMAGES IS REQUIRED FOR TELE-IMAGING in TWO WAYS: -digitalization of medical imaging. -direct acquisition of digital images.

2. TO OBTAIN GOOD QUALITY OF IMAGE : -compression of data without loss of information. -transmission requires a high data rate.

3.TRANSMISSION OF GOOD QUALITY OF IMAGES REQUIRED :

-high speed network.-high database system.-a super high definition imaging system.-a video conference system.

SCHOOL OF TELEMEDICINE & BIOMEDICAL INFORMATICS, SGPGIMS, LUCKHNOW

Whole set up of tele-imaging

CHALLENGES OF TELEMEDICINE

1.Low or small bandwidth.2.Neither telephone lines nor electricity in rural and remote areas.3.Satellite transmission can help but it is very costly.4.Unstable electricity supply.5.patient’s fear and unfamiliarity.6.Financial unavailability.7.Lack of basic amenities.8.Literacy rate and diversity in languages.9.Quality aspect.10.Government support.

Advantages of telemedicine

1.Eliminate distance barriers and improve access to quality health services.2.In emergency and critical care situations where moving a patient may be undesirable and/or not feasible.3.Facilitate patients and rural practitioners’ access to specialist health services and support4.Lessen the inconvenience and/or cost of patient transfers.5.Reduce unnecessary travel time for health professionals.6.Reduce isolation of rural practice by upgrading their knowledge through tele-education or tele-CME.

Conclusion

“TELEMEDICINE: ONE SMALL STEP FOR IT , A GIANT LEAP FORHEALTHCARE !!”

-BY NEIL ARMSTRONG

THANK YOU !!