By Hilary Gibson, Staff Writer
Utilized when a face-to-face consultation
is necessary, the second most widely-used
technology is two-way, interactive
television (IATV). This is when the patient,
along with their healthcare provider (a
doctor or a nurse practitioner) and a
telemedicine coordinator (or a combination
of the three), gather at one site (the
originating site), and a specialist is at
another site (the referral site) which is
usually at a large, metropolitan medical
center. Videoconferencing equipment is
placed at both locations allowing for a
consultation to take place in “real-time”.
Videoconferencing technology has decreased
in price over the past few years, and many
of the computer programs are no longer as
complex as they once were, allowing for
healthcare professionals to use nothing more
than a simple desktop videoconferencing
system. Almost all areas of medicine have
been able to benefit from videoconferencing,
including psychiatry, internal medicine,
rehabilitation, cardiology, pediatrics,
obstetrics, gynecology and neurology. Also,
many different peripheral devices like
otoscopes (which help doctors look inside
the ear) and stethoscopes (which enable a
doctor to listen to a person’s heartbeat)
can be attached to computers, aiding with an
interactive examination. Many healthcare
professionals are becoming more creative
with the technology that’s available to them
in order to conduct telemedicine. For
example, it's not unusual to use
store-and-forward, interactive, audio, and
video still images in a variety of
combinations and applications. Use of the
Web to transfer clinical information and
data is also becoming more prevalent, and
the use of wireless technology is being used
to provide ambulances with mobile
telemedicine services of all kinds.
Around the world, there are many programs
being used in a variety of ways to provide
technologically-advanced healthcare.
Telemedicine can be used in the remotest parts
of the world or in places as close as a
correctional facility, helping to eliminate the
dangers and costs associated with the
transportation of prisoners to a medical center.
Also on the horizon for telemedicine is the
development of robotics equipment for
telesurgery applications which would enable a
surgeon in one location to remotely control a
robotics arm for surgery in another location.
The military has been at the forefront of
development for this type of technology because
of the obvious advantages it offers for use on
the battlefield; however, some academic medical
centers and research organizations are also
testing and using telesurgery in order to
continue the advancements in telemedicine.
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