What is Telemedicine ? The knowledge that connects the physician to any health care center is called telemedicine . Today, technology has been used to provide health care to patients who live far away and do not have the necessary treatment facilities. These services are called telemedicine .
Types of telemedicine services
Audio information and services : This category of services is based on information provided by telephone lines. The cheapest type of medical information service is by telephone, which is also used at home in Iran as a doctor. This service is divided into 2 types :
The first group is offline : for example, the patient's heartbeat is sent to the doctor and recorded by the device, to be analyzed, and sometimes the output is drawn as a curve and the result is announced to the patient. .
The second group is online : for example, the patient's voice reaches the doctor via a direct telephone line, and the doctor decides on it and announces the result .
Information and video services : These services include video conferencing, image transfer, and x-ray. These services are expensive but have many uses. Sometimes this information is transmitted to the treating physician by scanners, and sometimes it is done by digital radiography, which directly converts and transmits images digitally. This method is common in radiology centers today .
The three areas of telemedicine
Help make decisions
The simplest possibility of telemedicine is to use the database of medical centers for the correct decision of specialists. This function, which is the oldest use of telemedicine, with the help of search engines, provides the results of research and various treatment methods for physicians at work .
Sensory transfer
Sensory transfer refers to sending patient information from one center to another. Information such as vital patient signals, especially digital radiographs, and even the patient's appearance can be transmitted through telemedicine .
Collaborate in patient management as Real Time
The most important and newest application of telemedicine is the use of patient video transmission technology, which helps different physicians manage treatment status in treatment processes such as surgery or long-term procedures. In addition to video images of the patient's appearance, information from a variety of devices such as stentoscopes, ophthalmoscopes, autoscopes, and dermascopes can also be transmitted .
What is transmitted in telemedicine processes?
* Collecting data and transmitting medical information
* Saved medical images
* Live audio and video
Some of the clinical information transmitted by the telemedicine system includes :
* Voice of the heart, lungs, abdomen and …
* Transfer live information electrocardiogram (ECG)
* Transmission of Respiratory Tests (PFT)
* Radiology and MRI image
* Oral image
* Ear image
* Image of skin diseases
* Blood pressure information transfer
* Transmission of vital signs
Communications in the remote medical system are usually done in two general ways :
Simultaneous communication : Includes direct conversation over the phone, video conference or web page. During this type of communication, the patient should pay full attention to the issues raised at that moment .
Non-synchronous communication : is done through e-mail and the like. In this case, it is possible to use it more efficiently and flexibly than time .
According to the above telemedicine according to the type of communication is done in several ways :
1 - video communication real-time
2 - Save and Send
3- health care and home monitoring