Telepathology using Internet multimedia electronic mail: remote consultation on gastrointestinal pathology

Abstract

The feasibility of using the Internet for remote pathology consultation was examined. We assessed the diagnostic agreement between two groups of pathologists who independently evaluated histopathological cases exchanged by Internet electronic mail. The exchange was between two different workstations using readily available software not specifically developed for telemedicine. Data and images from 76 cases were transmitted to four pathologists. An average of 4.5 images per case were transmitted at compression ratios of between 6:1 and 40:1, corresponding to 250 kByte of data per case. In two cases the remote pathologists could not make a diagnosis. Agreement was reached in 63 of the other 74 (kappa = 0.79). In 11 cases (15%) there was a misdiagnosis. However, the results are encouraging and suggest that Internet electronic mail can be used successfully for remote consultation in pathology.

Histological Assessment of Gonads in DSD: Relevance for Clinical Management

“…Overall, diagnostic accuracy of static image telepathology has been reviewed numerous times in different studies and results range from 68-100%, with improving figures over the years [Della Mea et al, 1996;Weinberg et al, 1996;Halliday et al, 1997;Dunn et al, 1999;Williams et al, 2001;Cross et al, 2002;Nordrum et al, 2004]. Static image telepathology is an accessible technique that can also be used in developing countries.…”

Interplay of cost and adoption of tele-medicine in Sub-Saharan Africa: The case of tele-cardiology in Ethiopia

“…The other form is the store-and-forward Tele-Medicine known as "pre-recorded" or "asynchronous" communication (Della et al, 1996;Fredriksen, Pettersen and Pedersen, 1997;Nordrum et al, 1998;Cross, 1996;Prednia, 1996;Kuntalp and Akar, 2004;Angonanakais et al, 2004). This type of application is less expensive, as there is no live interaction between the sender and receiver (Schwartz, et al, 2000;Sabale, 2003).…”

Diagnostic accuracy of second-opinion diagnoses based on still images

“…The diagnostic accuracy of histological diagnosis based on still images compared with glass slides from paraffin-embedded material has been reported to range from 52% to 96%. [4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13] The number of studies is limited, the available studies have varying designs and case composition, and few of these studies included second opinion cases. Thus, more studies are warranted.…”