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Camera Cell Phones
Provide Dermatology Consults on Wound Care
posted March 7, 2005
According to a feasibility study,
Dermatologists can consult on wound care via cell phone, improving the quality
of care and reduce costs.
"Leg ulcers are an important cost factor in health care systems," write Ralph
Peter Braun, MD, from University Hospital Geneva in Switzerland, and colleagues.
"It has been shown that a telemedical wound care consultation can improve
quality of care and help reduce costs."
Three physicians separately evaluated 61 leg ulcers for epithelialization,
fibrin, necrosis, and granulation tissue at the center and normal border,
erythema, cyanosis, eczema, and hyperpigmentation at the periphery. The gold
standard was the face-to-face consultation performed by one physician, and the
other two physicians performed the remote evaluation using a new generation of
mobile telephones with integrated cameras. The image obtained with the mobile
telephone was immediately transmitted via e-mail.
Cohen kappa statistics revealed that the agreement between the remote and
face-to-face evaluations was very good, with kappa values of up to 0.94. Image
quality was thought to be good in 36 cases (59%) and very good in 12 cases
(20%). In 50 cases (82%), the dermatologists felt comfortable making a diagnosis
based on the images.
"Although this study was performed with the first generation of these devices,
we were able to demonstrate the feasibility of such a telemedical wound care
consultation," the authors write. "We had the impression that a high percentage
of the problems related to leg ulcers could be solved with this type of
teleconsultation. The transport of the patient to the hospital or the
physician's office could be replaced, and this approach could potentially save
the health care system money."
Source: Diabetes In Control.com: Arch
Dermatol. 2005;141:254-258.
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