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| Roadside manner - US develops next generation telemedicine.
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10/12/04 |
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Research in the United States may soon be helping to provide improved medical attention for victims of road accidents. The research, funded by the US Office of Naval Research and led by the Loretto-based CERMUSA (Center of Excellence for Remote and Medically Underserved Areas) in partnership with St Francis University, is expected to result in the provision of high-qaulity tele-medical treatment at the roadside.
Using an ambulance equipped with a number of video cameras and wireless communications systems, the First Responder Emergency Communications-Mobile (FREC-M) telemedicine project is attempting to establish the ability reliably to communicate high-quality images and data from the first point of contact with a patient until his eventual arrival at hospital. Deploying a combination of wireless (VHF and UHF) and satellite (Inmarsat B-GAN) protocols, the CERMUSA scientists have, within the last few months, overcome many of the problems associated with transmitting digital images, voice and data whatever the terrain or weather conditions.
And while the transmission of telemedicine data has been gradually improving over the last 7 to 10 years, there seems little doubt that advances in compression technology coupled with the relaxation by the FCC of the restrictions on the use of Inmarsat signals in the USA has had a dramatic impact on the success of the FREC-M project. For the first time, hospital-based doctors are confident of receiving a patient's vital signs and other data direct from a moving ambulance and being able to give potentially life-saving instructions to the on-board paramedics.
While the project is primarily intended for use in battlefield conditions, there is no doubt that it will eventually be used for the routine response to road accidents. Yet for the moment, cost remains a factor. A single FREC-M ambulance is around three times the price of a standard vehicle and health authorities are unlikely to want to commit resources until the concept has been operationally proved over the next 12 to 18 months.
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