Teleradiology: An opportunity to improve outcomes in pulmonary fibrosis

Telemedicine is the use of remote technology for diagnosis and treatment of patients. Modern telemedicine's origin is traced to Dr. Willem Einthoven who in 1905 interpreted electrocardiograms remotely. Transmission of radiologic images has occurred as far back as the 1950's [1]. Currently, teleradiology is most frequently used in the United States to supplement shortages of radiologists and provide overnight and weekend coverage to allow real-time interpretation of studies [2]. This paper recommends teleradiology for an added indication: the radiologic diagnosis of diseases which are relatively rare and for which many radiologists will not have enough experience to make a confident diagnosis, specifically pulmonary fibrosis.
Source: Clinical Imaging - Category: Radiology Authors: Tags: Editorial Source Type: research