By Hilary Gibson, Staff Writer
During the past decade, more and more people have been able to
avoid physically going into work by telecommuting from their
home computer. Medicine has taken a cue from this growing trend
by combining telecommunications technology and medicine to
create telemedicine and telehealthcare. While healthcare
professionals have always communicated with one another over the
telephone, telemedicine kicks things up a notch by utilizing
sophisticated satellite technology to broadcast consultations
between healthcare professionals who are oceans apart or only a
few miles away. Videoconferencing equipment and robotic
technology have helped to make doctor’s offices and medical
facilities as close to one another as the nearest computer
screen.
There are two popular types of technology used for telemedicine
applications. The first of these is called “store and forward”
which is used for transferring digital images from one location
to another. A healthcare professional takes a picture of a
subject or an area of concern with a digital camera. The
information on the digital camera is “stored” and then
“forwarded” by computer to another computer at a different
location. This type of technology is utilized for
non-emergent situations, when there’s time for a diagnosis or
consultation to be made, usually within 24 to 48 hours, with the
findings then sent back. The most common use of store and
forward technology is with teleradiology, where x-rays, CT
scans, and MRIs can be sent from within the same facility,
between two buildings in the same city, or from one location to
another anywhere in the world. There are hundreds of medical
centers, clinics, and individual physicians who use some form of
teleradiology. Many radiologists are even installing appropriate
computer technology within their own homes, allowing them access
to images sent directly to them for diagnosis, eliminating an
unnecessary and possibly time-consuming trip back into to a
hospital or clinic. Telepathology is also another common use of
this type of technology, with images of pathology slides sent
from one location to another for diagnostic consultation.
Dermatology is one area that greatly benefits from the store and
forward technology, with digital images of different skin
conditions taken and sent to a dermatologist for diagnosis.
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