Abstract
Telemedicine allows for the effective delivery of health care to patients at a distance through the application of information technology to the field of medicine. This is optimal during the COVID-19 pandemic to reduce interpersonal contact to mitigate contagion. Among the possible Telemedicine applications, there is Telesurgery, which involves more and more surgical specialties thanks to the numerous benefits in quality and cost containment. In the growing field of Telesurgery, its technical and legal implications must be considered. In this study, a traditional review of the scientific literature was carried out to identify the most relevant issues of interest in Telesurgery. The problematic legal aspects identified are mainly related to the difference in legislation between different geographical areas, which is critical in the case of malpractice. In addition, there is the possibility of a malicious hacker attack on the transmitted data stream either to steal sensitive data or to harm the patient. Finally, there are inherent difficulties with the technology used, such as latency issues in data transmission. All these critical issues are currently not adequately addressed by current legislation. Therefore, one can only hope for a legislative action to allow Telesurgery to be used safely.
Highlights
The WHO defined Telemedicine as “The delivery of health care services, where distance is a critical factor, by all health care professionals using information and communication technologies for the exchange of valid information for the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of disease and injuries, research and evaluation, and for the continuing education of health care providers, all in the interests of advancing the health of individuals and their communities” [1].With the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, public health policies have been implemented by the national governments that focus on the reduction of viral transmission: especially social distancing, with quarantine and isolation strategies [2]
A growing branch of Telemedicine is Telesurgery, which is defined as the use of medical technology, such as robotics, sensory devices, and imaging video that allows a surgeon to operate long distances [7]
Unlike Telemedicine, which, even though it takes place in a relatively short period, does not require a continuous and stable flow of data, Telesurgery can only be performed in real-time and with a connection that guarantees adequate data transmission speed and stability [24]
Summary
The WHO defined Telemedicine as “The delivery of health care services, where distance is a critical factor, by all health care professionals using information and communication technologies for the exchange of valid information for the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of disease and injuries, research and evaluation, and for the continuing education of health care providers, all in the interests of advancing the health of individuals and their communities” [1]. With the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, public health policies have been implemented by the national governments that focus on the reduction of viral transmission: especially social distancing, with quarantine and isolation strategies [2] In this context, Telemedicine has been chosen as an ideal tool to answer the challenge and face the emergency [3,4]. Res. Public Health 2022, 19, 323 regions while avoiding long-distance travel, maintaining high quality and low cost, and the consequent reduction in surgical staff required to meet patients’ demands [9]. Public Health 2022, 19, 323 regions while avoiding long-distance travel, maintaining high quality and low cost, and the consequent reduction in surgical staff required to meet patients’ demands [9] It can be used for the training of new surgeons, known as telementoring [10]. A secondary objective of our work is to present potential future applications of telesurgery to highlight its growing role in the healthcare landscape
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