Telemedicine in the blood transfusion laboratory – remote interpretation of pre-transfusion tests

Abstract

We have developed a telemedicine system for blood transfusion work, to supply the local hospital laboratory with an expert opinion from the central reference laboratory. The telemedicine system allows remote inspection and interpretation of pre-transfusion tests, which are performed by ID-cards (micro-tube gel technology). The system was installed at three blood transfusion laboratories in Slovenia, approximately 70 km apart. Validation of the telemedicine system was performed using 99 clinical cases selected randomly from routine work. Two groups of immunohaematology specialists participated. Group A (n = 8) performed the read-out of the pre-transfusion tests on ID-cards by using the telemedicine system. Group B (n = 2) then read the ID-cards independently using the standard visual method. All 98 final interpretations which were recorded using the telemedicine system were correct. We recorded 591 micro-tube read-outs of agglutination strength using the telemedicine system, of which 582 were correct. For comparison, we recorded 591 micro-tube read-outs using the standard visual method, of which 582 were correct. The validation proved that the telemedicine system was suitable for operational use.

Development and Introduction of the Telemedical System into the Blood Transfusion Practice

“…These read-outs were then repeated by independent experts using the standard visual method. There were no statistically significant differences between the proportions of correct read-outs and final result interpretations using the telemedical system and using the standard visual method (Meza et al, 2007). After a successful pilot installation and validation all transfusion laboratories in Slovenia were equipped and connected into the telemedical system.…”

“…Current condensed set of high level user requirements of the telemedical system is as follows. The telemedical system should provide (Meza, et al, 2007) reliable, safe, secure and encrypted data transmissions. Since users of the telemedical system were involved into the system design, they adopted the system as their project, which helped to the system success.…”

“…The captured high resolution images (24-bit, truecolour 3.2 mega pixels) can be magnified up to 20-times without any visible degradation of the image. Hence, the observation and interpretation of the agglutinates is easy compared to the standard visual reading by the naked eye (Meza et al, 2007). To capture the image of the gel-card, it must be correctly illuminated using the white spectrum light.…”

Autofluorescence Bronchoscopy Image Processing in the Selected Colour Spaces Authors

“…The diagnostic system that we use for image acquisition has been installed in a hospital specializing in the bronchoscopy examination. Our goal is to develop an image analysis system that can be used for tele-consultation by specialists [12].…”

Virtual blood bank

“…A telemedicine system is recently available that allows remote inspection and interpretation of pre-transfusion tests, such as those performed by gel technology. [25] This may remove the need of specimen delivery from the remote site.…”