Telematic and surgery: methods, terminology and instructions

Abstract

Telematic is the application of computer technology in modern telecommunication. Telemedicine will be of growing importance in the international collaboration in surgery. Review of the different telematic applications for surgery and presentation of technology and tools. Practical user's guide. Analysis of our international network of telesurgical staff meetings between 6 University Hospitals. Review of the situation of telemedicine in Switzerland and around the world. After performing some comparative tests we chose to work with 6 ISDN channels at the world wide standard H.320 (rate of 384 Kb/s) which is widely available in Switzerland and around the world. Technical options, market opportunities and relationship between needs and goals of telemedicine are presented on a user point of view. More than 70 telesurgical staff meetings allowed us to get an overview of this technology, in order to benefit of telemedicine applications for teaching and clinical use. Important factors are the analysis of needs and goals prior to the teleconference. Consultation, second opinion, teaching and training should be new clinical applications of telemedicine, leading to an increase of surgical quality control in Europe and in the world.