A mobile tele-radiology imaging system with JPEG2000 for an emergency care.

The aim of this study was to design a tele-radiology imaging system for rapid emergency care via mobile networks and to assess the diagnostic feasibility of the Joint Photographic Experts Group 2000 (JPEG2000) radiological imaging using portable devices. Rapid patient information and image exchange is helpful to make clinical decisions. We assessed the usefulness of the mobile tele-radiology system by measuring both a quantitative method, PNSR calculation, for image qualities, and its transmission time via mobile networks in different mobile networks, respectively; code division multiple access evolution-data optimized, wireless broadband, and high-speed downlink packet access; and the feasibility of the JPEG2000 computed tomography (CT) images by qualitatively assessing with the Alberta stroke program early CT score method with 12 CT image cases (seven normal and five abnormal cases). We found that the quality of the JPEG2000 radiological images was satisfied quantitatively and was judged as acceptable qualitatively at 5:1 and 10:1 compression levels for the mobile tele-radiology imaging system. The JPEG2000-format radiological images achieved a fast transmission while maintaining a diagnosis quality on a portable device via mobile networks. Unfortunately, a PDA device, having a limited screen resolution, posed difficulties in reviewing the JPEG2000 images regardless of the compression levels. An ultra mobile PC was preferable to study the medical image. The mobile tele-radiology imaging systems supporting JPEG2000 image transmission can be applied to actual emergency care services under mobile computing environments.ope

Mobile technology use in a multidisciplinary healthcare team - factors and challenges

Mobile technologies are being increasingly used in the health care sector to deliver quality care to patients through improved communication. While considerable research has been carried out in this area, there is limited research as to how mobile technology is being used by a multidisciplinary health care team (MHCT). This study aims to shed some light on the use of mobile technology by a MHCT. Using Activity Theory as a lens, we report on a qualitative study carried out in a large Australian hospital. This research identified the type of tasks and characteristics of the roles of the MHCT as important factors in understanding how they use mobile technology. The type of use for the technology was classified into spontaneous, restricted and potential use. Communication was found to be the key spontaneous” use by the MHCT. The major challenges faced by the MHCT were privacy and security, and confidentiality

Mobile Technology Use in a Multidisciplinary Healthcare Team - Factors and Challenges

Mobile technologies are being increasingly used in the health care sector to deliver quality care to patients through improved communication. While considerable research has been carried out in this area, there is limited research as to how mobile technology is being used by a multidisciplinary health care team (MHCT). This study aims to shed some light on the use of mobile technology by a MHCT. Using Activity Theory as a lens, we report on a qualitative study carried out in a large Australian hospital. This research identified the type of tasks and characteristics of the roles of the MHCT as important factors in understanding how they use mobile technology. The type of use for the technology was classified into spontaneous, restricted and potential use. Communication was found to be the key "spontaneous” use by the MHCT. The major challenges faced by the MHCT were privacy and security, and confidentiality

Innovative ICT solutions in telemedicine to support clinical practice and research in hospitals

2010/2011The scope of this study was to examine ICT telemedicine innovations and potentialities in web-portals, intranet services and tele-radiology topics respectively, in order to design, develop and, possibly, realize apposite telemedicine systems and solutions for healthcare and in particular for the hospitals. ICT techniques and technologies are nowadays applied in every area of our common living from work places to our homes, our free-time, schools, universities and so on. The healthcare services offered by hospitals are heavily supported by technologies and, behind them, by a wide research both in ICT and biomedical sciences. Thanks to these advances telemedicine is now becoming a fundamental part of services offered by hospitals and healthcare structures. The healthcare management, the doctors and the common people are now experimenting how telemedicine is an added value to all the services offered in terms of the quality of care, the patient follow up, the early diagnose and treatment of pathologies and diseases. In this research is presented an all-inclusive approach to telemedicine problems and challenges in particular studying, developing and proposing ICT methods and technologies in the above mentioned three areas of interest: •innovative healthcare and telemedicine-ready hospital website or portal design and development; •analysis and study of models for the realization of intranet healthcare services to enhance both quality of care and the management of healthcare personnel evaluation; •tele-radiology and some of its actual new perspectives as the study and the evaluation of the “mobile” tele-radiology approach using commercial tablets (and what it could mean).For the first topic the results may be summarized in the development of a more interactive and “social” hospital web-portal offering original solutions and services to all the categories of users (audience, professionals, researchers), allowing them – through the use of advanced tools - to configure and select their own pages and interests. The originality of this approach consists in a good cost/effective result in the respect of the last and worldwide accepted Internet regulations and policies too. A similar approach regarded the intranet services and the design of web interfaces for the clinical practice and the executive evaluation. These kind of innovative systems regard a limited and selected number of more skilled users, typically belonging to a corporation or to specific offices. As above the approach is important: interactive services, innovative tools and affordable instruments are the keywords of the systems designed or proposed to solve specific problems or needs. The last research topic concerned the proposal of a protocol for the assessment of medical images on commercial displays, interesting the stakeholders and the groups involved in medical images treatment, visualization and communication. The potentialities of the mobile tablet devices improve day after day and new devices are marketed every week and the innovation is round the corner. These potentialities must encounter the medical diagnostics world and meet the standards and the regulations the international community established. It will be difficult for a commercial tablet to obtain the medical device CE mark not only for commercial reasons, but the technical limits may be reached and even surpassed adopting objective measures and evaluations. This study demonstrates that commercial tablets may be used in clinical practice for the correct visualization and diagnose of medical images. The measures of some display characteristics may be considered acceptable for mobile interpretation (even report?) of medical images, but if and only if the ambient lighting conditions are under objective control and integrated automated systems in tablets warns physicians about bad or borderline technical and ambient restrictions or bonds.XXIII Ciclo197

PDA–Phone-Based Instant Transmission of Radiological Images over a CDMA Network by Combining the PACS Screen with a Bluetooth-Interfaced Local Wireless Link

Remote teleconsultation by specialists is important for timely, correct, and specialized emergency surgical and medical decision making. In this paper, we designed a new personal digital assistant (PDA)–phone-based emergency teleradiology system by combining cellular communication with Bluetooth-interfaced local wireless links. The mobility and portability resulting from the use of PDAs and wireless communication can provide a more effective means of emergency teleconsultation without requiring the user to be limited to a fixed location. Moreover, it enables synchronized radiological image sharing between the attending physician in the emergency room and the remote specialist on picture archiving and communication system terminals without distorted image acquisition. To enable rapid and fine-quality radiological image transmission over a cellular network in a secure manner, progressive compression and security mechanisms have been incorporated. The proposed system is tested over a code division Multiple Access 1×-Evolution Data-Only network to evaluate the performance and to demonstrate the feasibility of this system in a real-world setting