Journal of the Indian Academy of Echocardiography & Cardiovascular Imaging (Jan 2017)
Telemedicine and tele-echocardiography in India
Abstract
India is a vast nation with almost 75% of their population living in rural and remote regions. The obvious challenge is in the health-care delivery mechanism because of the disparity in the availability of services and specialists across the region. Therefore, the technology that facilitates the delivery of this essential health care to these remote areas is the need of the hour today. Telemedicine which essentially encompasses exchange of clinical information through a communication media has provided a platform for the delivery of quality health care. Advances in Information and Communication Technology in the area of video-to-video communication have led to the growth of extending the reach of specialist services for diagnostic investigations to areas wherein specialists are unavailable. For a country of over one billion, the number of cardiologists available for even screening patients is abysmally low. Echocardiography is often used to diagnose and exclude important cardiac diagnoses in adults and children. The use of telemedicine in echocardiography is one way to alleviate this problem, wherein a diagnosis can be made through the transmitted images and an appropriate management plan suggested based on the findings before there is patient movement. With the right diagnosis, some of them do not need medical intervention in terms of a procedure or surgery, and they can just be managed by medicines. The convergence of science and technology in our dynamic digital era has resulted in the development of innovative digital health devices that allow easy and accurate characterization in health and disease. Internet of Things (IoT)-assisted medical devices have found immense potential in addressing some of the long-standing issues related to diagnostic tests such as electrocardiogram and echocardiography. These technological advancements and the miniaturization of diagnostic instruments have led to decreasing health-care costs and improving outcomes.
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