Telemedicine News
New California Study Finds Telemedicine Leads to Better Stroke Treatment
(Source: North County Times, August 3, 2008)
Diagnosis of stroke patients has been dramatically improved through a program that connects patients to stroke experts through the Internet, according to The University of California-San Diego Medical Center. The program, called Stroke Doc, was developed by the center and two local companies.
Stroke Doc improved diagnostic accuracy from 82 percent by telephone to greater than 98 percent, said Dr. Brett C. Meyer, co-director of the UCSD Medical Center Stroke Center. A study of Stroke Doc was halted when it was just over halfway through, because the results were so clear, Meyer said.
The collaboration brings together the fields of life science and wireless communications, two of the county's leading industries, to find ways to lower the cost of healthcare and improve quality. It gives scientific backing to the emerging field known as telemedicine, which connects doctors and patients who are at a distance, through the Internet.
Carmel Valley-based BF-Technologies makes the program's audio/visual equipment, which the company says delivers an exceptionally stable video signal. The equipment costs about $24,000, the company says.
San Diego's Qualcomm Inc. developed the broadband wireless technology used to transmit information through a laptop when there's no wired connection. Now available to consumers, it was made first available to the Stroke Doc study.
This is the first time in her experience that telemedicine has been studied to scientifically demonstrate that it improves patient care, as compared to a telephone consultation, said Meyer, co-director of the UCSD Medical Center Stroke Center.
"Telemedicine has been used for about 10 years, and there's been an assumption that it's been effective," Meyer said. "But it hasn't been tested."
The study was funded by the National Institutes of Health. It was published Aug. 2 in the online issue of the journal Lancet Neurology.
A standard broadband Internet connection and the BF-Technologies video camera equipment is all that's needed on the patient's side, Meyer said. Alternatively, a wireless broadband connection through Verizon Wireless or Sprint can establish the connection through Qualcomm's wireless broadband technology.
"We've been stuck in traffic, and an ambulance has been stuck in traffic with us, but we've been able turn on a laptop and access one of the camera systems," in the ambulance, Meyer said.
Strokes kill more than 150,000 Americans annually, making it the third-leading cause of death, according to the American Heart Association. Those who survive may suffer permanent brain damage. Prompt treatment reduces the risk of death or damage, not only improving patient health, but saving money that would otherwise be spent on rehabilitation.
Most strokes are caused by blood clots in the brain. These can be broken up by a clot-busting drug called tPA, ending the stroke, Meyer said. But tPA is dangerous in some instances, Meyer said, and if wrongly given can cause brain hemorrhage or death. And relatively few doctors have the experience to make the correct call.
That's where Stroke Doc comes in, Meyer said. It gives a distant stroke expert the detailed information needed to decide whether tPA should be given.
Other partners in the study included Calit2, a research program of the UC system, and the Jacobs School of Engineering at UCSD.