Teleconsultation in diagnostic pathology: experience from Iran and Germany with the use of two European telepathology servers

Abstract

Eighty pathology cases were sent independently to each of two telepathology servers. Cases were submitted from the Department of Pathology at the University of Kerman in Iran (40 cases) and from the Institute of Pathology in Berlin, Germany (40 cases). The telepathology servers were located in Berlin (the UICC server) and Basel in Switzerland (the iPATH server). A scoring system was developed to quantify the differences between the diagnoses of the referring pathologist and the remote expert. Preparation of the cases, as well as the submission of images, took considerably longer from Kerman than from Berlin; this was independent of the server system. The Kerman delay was mainly associated with a slower transmission rate and longer image preparation. The diagnostic gap between referrers' and experts' diagnoses was greater with the iPATH system, but not significantly so. The experts' response time was considerably shorter for the iPATH system. The results showed that telepathology is feasible for requesting pathologists working in a developing country or in an industrialized country. The key factor in the quality of the service is the work of the experts: they should be selected according to their diagnostic expertise, and their commitment to the provision of telepathology services is critical.

Mobile teledermatology coming of age

“…The implementation of modern wireless telecommunication means like Global Positioning Radio System (GPRS) or Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) and satellite communication has nearly become an everyday reality and thus forms the IT basis for mobile telemedicine. These technologies can be used widespread in medicine: from telecardiology (Scalvini, Glisenti, 2005) onwards via teleradiology (Ewers, 2005) to telepathology (Mireskandari, 2004) and telepsychiatry (Cruz, 2005;Miller, 2005). Today various project (Voskarides, 2002) test the potential of distant monitoring by using a wireless link between the hospital physician and the paramedicals in out-patient settings, while the patient is now being transported from his home to the specialized clinic.…”

Recent Advances in Telepathology in the Developing World

“…Some of the earliest telepathology projects in Iran, which is a country like most other developing nations where there is no special telepathology network, have been highlighted in the literature (Mireskandari et al, 2004;Abdirad et al, 2006). These links between the University of Kerman in Iran and also the Cancer Institute of Tehran Universities of Medical Sciences with the iPath telepathology server based in Basle and UICC server Berlin were used for only telepathologic consultations.…”

Two years' experience with Web-based teleconsulting in dermatology

“…The aim of the project was to create an easy-to-use platform for teleconsultation services, where physicians can seek diagnostic advice in dermatology from a pool of expert consultants and where they can present and discuss challenging dermatology cases with special emphasis on diagnosis and therapy. 31 The present study reviews our experience.…”