Remote Echocardiography: Proof of Concept for Support of National Disasters, Combat and Humanitarian Mission
Abstract
Echocardiography is an essential tool in the evaluation of patients with cardiac emergencies and chest trauma. The objective of our study was to establish the feasibility and diagnostic accuracy of a portable satellite transmission system in the assessment of cardiac emergencies for the real-time support of rnass casualty and humanitarian relief efforts. Twelve patients with cardiac structural disease identified by conventional in-hospital transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) were transported to a remote portable field hospital where TTE was performed with a hand-held echocardiographic device. Images were then relayed by a commercial VSAT satellite to a level 3 trauma center where they were interpreted in real-time by a cardiologist. Remote VSAT studies were recorded at the field hospital prior to satellite transmission and again upon download at the receiving facility. The remotely acquired studies before and after satellite transmission were compared to each other and subsequently compared with conventional hospital TTE for technical quality and diagnostic accuracy using a blinded single reader side-by-side comparison. Excellent agreement was found between the recorded field-site and satellite-transmitted images with an overall average of 95% concordance. When the field data acquired with the handlield device and satellite transmission was compared to the conventional in-hospital echocardiography, a high degree of agreement was demonstrated in overall technical quality (83%) and assessments of left ventricular ejection fraction (100%), pericardial efflision (100%), and left ventricular size (92%). This study demonstrates the feasibility and diagnostic accuracy of remote, real-time echocardiography using VSAT satellite transmission for mass casualty triage or humanitarian relief efforts.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Dec 01, 2002
- Accession Number
- ADA421344
Entities
People
- James L. Furgerson
- Linda L. Huffer
- Sheri Y. Boyd
- Terry D. Bauch