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One Hundred Case Studies of Asia-Pacific Telemedicine Using a Digital Video Transport System over a Research and Education Network

2009; Mary Ann Liebert, Inc.; Volume: 15; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1089/tmj.2008.0067

1556-3669

Shuji Shimizu, Naoki Nakashima, Koji Okamura, Masao Tanaka,

Electronic Health Records Systems

A broadband research and education system in Asia incorporates national and regional systems of many nations. The system described uses free software for rendering of digital images into Internet Protocol for transmission without compression over a 30-Mbps connection. In 100 live teleconferences over several years, the trend was steadily toward increasing utilization and multipoint interactive conferences with strong use by surgical groups. Among the international conferences, 53 countries were involved. The reaction to the system was assessed in 745 questionnaires that strongly favored the technology for fidelity and quality. Although the use of video in telemedicine is most helpful, the transmission of high-quality moving images is difficult in conventional systems due to the limitation of network bandwidth and the quality of service. We have established a new system via the academic broadband network that can preserve the original quality and assure smooth movement of the image. Here we report on 100 case studies and discuss the lessons we have learned. Kyushu University Hospital in Fukuoka, Japan, was linked to 53 medical institutions and meeting venues in 13 countries and regions over the Asia-Pacific Advanced Network, an international research and education consortium. The digital video transport system (DVTS), free software that transforms digital video signals directly into Internet Protocol, was installed on a personal computer (PC) with a network bandwidth of 30 Mbps per channel. Between February 2003 and June 2007, 100 telecommunication sessions were held, 94 of which were international and 6 domestic. Furthermore, 47 involved real-time demonstrations and 53 interactive teleconferences using video or PC presentations. Multiple stations were connected in 37 events, and the number of connected stations in total reached 269. The time delay was restricted to 0.3–1.0 seconds between the stations. Participants provided feedback via questionnaires, and with respect to image quality, 509 (68.3%) participants reported “very good,” 206 (27.7%) reported “good,” 19 (2.6%) reported “poor,” and 11 (1.5%) reported “very poor.” DVTS is both economical, with a minimal initial investment, and simple to set up, and this is the first time that this advanced system has been used so widely in the Asia-Pacific region. Because the high-speed academic network for research and education is available worldwide, we believe our cutting-edge technology will facilitate medical standardization beyond geographic borders in the world.