Trans-Pacific tele-ultrasound image transmission of fetal central nervous system structures |
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| Authors: | Adilson Cunha Ferreira Edward Araujo Júnior Wellington P Martins João Francisco Jordão Antônio Hélio Oliani Simon E Meagher |
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| Institution: | 1. Department of Perinatal Medicine, Royal Women’s Hospital and Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia,;2. Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, School of Medicine of S?o José do Rio Preto University (FAMERP), S?o José do Rio Preto-SP, Brazil, adilson.cunha@ultra-sonografia.com.br;4. Department of Obstetrics, Paulista School of Medicine, S?o Paulo Federal University (EPM-UNIFESP), S?o Paulo-SP, Brazil,;5. Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, School of Medicine of Ribeir?o Preto, S?o Paulo University (FMRP-USP), Ribeir?o Preto-SP, Brazil,;6. Institute for Diagnostic Imaging (IDI), Ribeir?o Preto-SP, Brazil, and;7. Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, School of Medicine of S?o José do Rio Preto University (FAMERP), S?o José do Rio Preto-SP, Brazil,;8. Monash Ultrasound for Women, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia |
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| Abstract: | Objective: To assess the quality of images and video clips of fetal central nervous (CNS) structures obtained by ultrasound and transmitted via tele-ultrasound from Brazil to Australia.Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 15 normal singleton pregnant women between 20 and 26 weeks were selected. Fetal CNS structures were obtained by images and video clips. The exams were transmitted in real-time using a broadband internet and an inexpensive video streaming device. Four blinded examiners evaluated the quality of the exams using the Likert scale. We calculated the mean, standard deviation, mean difference, and p values were obtained from paired t tests.Results: The quality of the original video clips was slightly better than that observed by the transmitted video clips; mean difference considering all observers = 0.23 points. In 47/60 comparisons (78.3%; 95% CI?=?66.4–86.9%) the quality of the video clips were judged to be the same. In 182/240 still images (75.8%; 95% CI?=?70.0–80.8%) the scores of transmitted image were considered the same as the original.Conclusion: We demonstrated that long distance tele-ultrasound transmission of fetal CNS structures using an inexpensive video streaming device provided images of subjective good quality. |
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| Keywords: | Central nervous system telemedicine telesonography tele-ultrasound ultrasound |
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