Telemedicine in India
12th June 1999
Arup Bhanja @cal.vsnl.net.in
FYI,
Great news for all of us.
Arup
----------
> From: Bob Pyke Jr
> To: [email protected]
> Subject: Telemedicine in India
> Date: Friday, June 11, 1999 8:03 PM
>
> Fyi,
> >From the SAsia List serve,
> Bob
> [India] Telemedicine catches up in Gujarat
> Date:
> Fri, 11 Jun 1999 11:34:27 +0500
> From:
> "Irfan Khan"
> To:
> [email protected]
>
>
>
>
> Telemedicine catches up in Gujarat
>
> Anosh Malekar
>
>
> A few months ago the doctors at the Rajkot Civil Hospital 'referred'
> an emergency case to the U.N. Mehta Institute of Cardiology and
> Research Centre, Ahmedabad. But the patient did not have to go to
> Ahmedabad since the two hospitals are linked with an Online
> Telemedicine System.
>
> A High-tech operation: An Event Recorder being used for taking an ECG
>
> The Rajkot doctors recorded the patient's ECG using an Event
> Recorder, a small electronic equipment resembling a TV remote
> control. It can record live the ECG data within a minute and transmit
> it over the telephone. Simultaneously, videos of the patient's
> condition were taken by a tiny camera and the doctors' comments
> recorded by a microphone attached to a computer. Then they dialled
> the telephone number of a transmitting centre which passed on the
> data to the specialists in Ahmedabad. The specialists analysed the
> ECG, viewed the patient on video, heard the Rajkot doctors' comments,
> and jotted down their advice on an electronic pad, which was
> transmitted back to Rajkot. All this in a matter of minutes. And on
> ordinary telephone lines.
>
> "The patient was the winner," said Ragesh Shah, chairman of the
> Online Telemedicine Research Institute (OTRI), Ahmedabad, which has
> developed the system. So far these applications had been carried out
> through satellites, said Shah, a biotechnologist who led the OTRI
> team's decade-long research and development efforts in telemedicine.
>
> Using indigenous technology, the team developed the system with
> expert advice from a panel of eminent physicians and surgeons from
> India and abroad. It can be used to transmit online ECG, CT scans,
> magnetic resonance imaging, Cathlab reports, pathological reports,
> doctors' prescriptions, typed and even handwritten notes, and moving
> images.
>
> Shah said that moving images, which may include X-rays, sonography,
> angiography, 2-D echo and colour Doppler, are important in finding
> minor clues for precise diagnosis. They enable the specialists to
> gather maximum information from the patients and doctors on the
> periphery, during the very first 'consultation'. The specialists can
> even get a feel of the patient's heartbeat through an electronic
> stethoscope which could be attached to the computer at the peripheral
> health centre.
>
> But the most important innovation, according to Shah, is the Event
> Recorder (ER). The ER has no cords attached to it. The patient simply
> has to place it on his chest, push a button and wait for a minute for
> recording the ECG. This done, he has to dial the telephone number of
> his doctor and place the equipment on the mouthpiece as per
> directions given, and press the same button again. The ER converts
> the electronic signals into audio signals which again get converted
> into electronic signals on the doctor's personal computer.
>
> The ER was tested on domestic flights, in moving vehicles, offices
> and parks. It worked to the satisfaction of medical experts.
>
> Having successfully demonstrated the Online Telemedicine system at
> the civil hospitals in Ahmedabad, Rajkot and Gandhinagar, Shah has
> now had it installed in 58 cities and towns in Gujarat. Similar
> systems have been installed for use in homoeopathy and ayurveda.
>
> http://www.the-week.com/99jun13/life2.htm
