Teleneurology: is it really at a distance?

Abstract

Telemedicine refers to the transfer of medical information from one site to another using distance communications technology. This approach has benefitted many medical specialties, with telestroke being a prelude to its applications in neurology. Our review will focus on the use of telemedicine in neurological practice (teleneurology) following a brief discussion of telestroke. Given the emerging nature of trial evidence in teleneurology, our aim is to provide a narrative review and highlight areas that merit further investigation.

Facilitating Stroke Management using Modern Information Technology

“…Because mobile devices can deliver streaming video and audio, they can be used to evaluate acute stroke patients remotely 18. Comparison between the face-to-face method and the mobile telemedicine method of assessment using the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) showed high inter-method agreement according to the correlations in total NIHSS scores between the methods (r=0.94 to 0.98, P <0.001) and an acceptable length of remote assessment time (3.38 to 11.4 minutes) 15.…”

Telemedicine for patients with epilepsy: A pilot experience

“…Acute stroke care has benefited the most so far from the advent of this technology [1][2][3][4], but other neurological applications have been reported [5][6][7][8]. Telemedicine has the potential of improving access of patients with epilepsy residing in rural areas to epileptologists in tertiary care centers [9,10].…”

“…Telemedicine (TM) offers medical consultation at a distance, i.e., with the doctor and patient communicating through videoconferencing systems [1,2]. Acute stroke care has benefited the most so far from the advent of this technology [1][2][3][4], but other neurological applications have been reported [5][6][7][8].…”

The Evolution of Academic Neurology

“…The effectiveness of providing care via "teleneurology" has been demonstrated for stroke 6 as well as for chronic neurological conditions. 5 By no means will "touching patients" become unimportant, but how we touch them is likely to change. In some cases, this will involve working with nonneurologist physicians who see patients with us via a "teleneurology" link.…”