Feb 99 Interactive, two-way audio and video communication in real time emerges as a new method for the fast evaluation of stroke patients in small community hospitals in order to determine the best possible therapy. At the Wayne State University School of Medicine in Michigan, Professor Steven R. Levine is involved in the Telestroke concept, a programme that studies the use of videoconferencing to interconnect stroke specialists and physicians at remote emergency units. At the University of Maryland School of Medicine, Dr. Marian P. LaMonte, an assistant professor of neurology, has already set up a telemedicine system to offer aid to stroke victims in the rural region of Southern Maryland.
Physicians have no time to waste if a stroke occurs to prevent the patient from severe disability.
In turn, victims of hemorrhagic strokes, due to a leaking or burst blood vessel in the brain, only can be saved with instant surgery. Doctors in rural areas are somewhat reluctant to give clot-busting drugs to stroke patients for fear they might cause excessive or fatal bleeding. The assistance of a stroke expert by means of videoconferencing could lessen the local physician's uncertainty. The Telestroke concept, as envisioned by Dr. Levine, has to operate using a two-way videoconferencing system via desktop computers to link the stroke specialist with the emergency room staff in a small hospital. Together, they work as a team to evaluate the patient, administer a stroke-assessment test, read the patient's imaging scans, diagnose the type of stroke, administer the appropriate medication, and perform surgery, if necessary.