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At least 343 records · Page 19Linked to original sources

The virtual visit: using telecommunications technology to take care of patients.

Telephone-Linked Care (TLC) technology has been developed and applied as an alternative to and a supplement for office visits as a means to deliver ambulatory care. TLC is used to monitor patients with chronic diseases, counsel patients on important health behaviors, and provide information and support to home caregivers of patients with disabling conditions. TLC speaks to patients over the telephone in their homes using computer-controlled digitized human speech. Patients use their telephone keypad to communicate. TLC conversations last 2-15 minutes per call and take place weekly for periods of at least 3 months. The conversations consist of a salutation, password verification, the core clinical part, and a closing. The structure of the clinical part is similar for each of the application groups: chronic disease, health behavior, and caregiver support. The system architecture consists of linked voice and database components and their subcomponents. Preliminary evaluation indicates that TLC is well accepted by patients and their providers and can improve clinical outcomes.

Ambulatory Care↗

Assessment of job stress dimensions based on the job demands- control model of employees of telecommunication and electric power companies in Japan: reliability and validity of the Japanese version of the Job Content Questionnaire.

To investigate the reliability and validity of 4 selected scales from the Japanese version of the Job Content Questionnaire (JCQ. Karasek, 1985)-decision latitude, psychological demand, supervisor support, and coworker support-a survey was conducted on a total of 626 employees of telephone and electric companies in Japan. The survey questionnaire was composed of 22 items. Data from 472 male and 108 female respondents were analyzed. Cronbach's alpha coefficients for the four JCQ scales ranged from .61 to .89 for men and from .65 to .87 for women. Scree plots based on factor analyses of scale items indicated that one major factor explained 30% to 75% of each scale variance in men and women. Factor structures of the 22 items for men and women were consistent with those theoretically expected Distributions of the decision latitude scores among occupations for men and women were similar to those in the U.S. national samples; the scores significantly and positively correlated with occupational class. It is suggested that the JCQ scales are reliable and valid instruments for assessing job stressors in a Japanese working population.

Journal Article↗

Remote anesthetic monitoring using satellite telecommunications and the Internet.

Remote collaboration for anesthesia requires considerable sharing of physiologic data, audio, and images on a consistent data platform. A low-bandwidth connection between Ecuador and the United States supported effective joint management of operative plan, airway, intraoperative decisions, and recovery. Transmission with a 64-Kbps InMarSat satellite telephone (Thrane & Thrane, Denmark) connection from hospitals in Macas and Sucúa, Ecuador, to Richmond, Virginia, included preoperative patient evaluations, video of endotracheal intubations, electrocardiogram waveforms, pulse oximetry measurements, arterial blood pressure readings, capnography readings, and auscultation of breath sounds.

Anesthesia↗

Telemedicine of the heart: real-time telescreening of echocardiography using satellite telecommunication.

The early detection of disease is important to keep people healthy, but it is not easy for elderly residents living in rural areas at a distance from well-equipped medical institutes to be examined. Therefore, the present study evaluated the usefulness of real-time telescreening of echocardiography using satellite communications. The participants in this study were 57 residents of a rural community in Japan. The resolution of the real-time ultrasound images sent by communications satellite was almost identical to that of the original images taken in the hospital. Although some problems remain to be solved, telescreening of echocardiography will be a practical method for public health in the near future.

Aged↗

The consistency of neuropsychological assessments performed via telecommunication and face to face.

Previous studies have suggested that cognitive assessments of adult psychiatric patients can be carried out as reliably via teleconsultation as they can face to face. However, the designs of these studies have often been less than satisfactory. The present study used videoconferencing at 128 kbit/s for the cognitive assessment of individuals with a history of alcohol abuse. Twenty-seven participants were given a range of assessments with two equivalent forms. One of the forms was given via videoconferencing and the other face to face. All participants were assessed using both media and the order of presentation was balanced across participants. Aspects of participant satisfaction with teleconsultations were also assessed, on 10-point scales. The teleconsultations were significantly longer (mean 40.7 min, SD 6.4) than the face-to-face sessions (mean 33.0 min, SD 5.3). For most of the outcome measures, cognitive assessment via teleconsultation produced similar results to face-to-face assessment. Most participants expressed high overall satisfaction with the teleconsultation (mean rating 8.2). The average ratings for the sound quality (mean 7.6) and visual quality of the equipment (mean 7.9) were also high. The findings imply that it is not necessary for patients and neuropsychologists to be present at the same location for cognitive assessments to be carried out.

Adult↗

Website discussion forums: results of an Australian project to promote telecommunication in dermatology.

Discussion forums on the Internet allow doctors to discuss issues of interest in a rapid, convenient and educational manner. In March 2002, the department of dermatology at the St George Hospital in Sydney launched a national Website with an online discussion forum for dermatologists. Features of the Website forum include the ability to moderate the discussion boards, a choice of public or private discussions and receipt of automatic email notifications. Over three months, three dermatologists posted a total of 13 messages on three different topics. The low rate of participation by dermatologists may have been due to lack of time or familiarity with the technology. Increased promotion to and education of dermatologists who are most likely to use the discussion forum may improve utilization of this means of communication.

Journal Article↗

Performance of a web-based, realtime, tele-ultrasound consultation system over high-speed commercial telecommunication lines.

A Web-based, realtime, tele-ultrasound consultation system was designed. The system employed ActiveX control, MPEG-4 coding of full-resolution ultrasound video (640 x 480 pixels at 30 frames/s) and H.320 videoconferencing. It could be used via a Web browser. The system was evaluated over three types of commercial line: a cable connection, ADSL and VDSL. Three radiologists assessed the quality of compressed and uncompressed ultrasound video-sequences from 16 cases (10 abnormal livers, four abnormal kidneys and two abnormal gallbladders). The radiologists' scores showed that, at a given frame rate, increasing the bit rate was associated with increasing quality; however, at a certain threshold bit rate the quality did not increase significantly. The peak signal to noise ratio (PSNR) was also measured between the compressed and uncompressed images. In most cases, the PSNR increased as the bit rate increased, and increased as the number of dropped frames increased. There was a threshold bit rate, at a given frame rate, at which the PSNR did not improve significantly. Taking into account both sets of threshold values, a bit rate of more than 0.6 Mbit/s, at 30 frames/s, is suggested as the threshold for the maintenance of diagnostic image quality.

Data Compression↗

The promise of the World Wide Web and other telecommunication technologies within deaf education.

The authors summarize a national survey that collected information on instructional technology resources available at schools serving deaf students in the United States. Results indicated that over 70% of these schools have access to the Internet and World Wide Web. The authors also explore innovative uses of the Internet and provide examples of specific applications for deaf students.

Computer Communication Networks↗

Design of reflective phase compensator filters for telecommunications.

Reflective phase compensator (RPC) filters provide a solution to the phase-dispersion problem of narrow bandpass (NBP) filters when the data rate is 40 Gbits/s or greater. By use of an RPC filter to compensate for the excessive group-delay (GD) ripple of an NBP filter, the GD ripple of the combined NBP+RPC filter is well under the required 2.5 ps.

Journal Article↗

Tunable, oblique incidence resonant grating filter for telecommunications.

We have designed a tunable, oblique-incidence resonant grating filter that covers the C band as an add-drop device for incident TE-polarized light. We tune the filter by tilting a microelectromechanical systems platform onto which the filter is attached. The fabrication tolerances as well as the role of finite incident-beam size and limited device size were addressed. The maximum achievable efficiency of a finite-area device as well as a scaling law that relates the resonance peak width and the minimum device size is derived. In good agreement with simulations, measurements indicate a negligible change in shape of the resonance peak from 1526 nm at a 45 degrees angle of incidence to 1573 nm at a 53 degrees angle with a full width at half-maximum of 0.4 nm. In this range the shift of the peak wavelength is linear with respect to changes in the angle of incidence.

Journal Article↗