Duong Victor, Hannan Liam M, Tirant Kirstin, Choe Yee Xian, Hateley Erica, Muruganandan Sanjeevan
Department of Respiratory Medicine, Northern Health, Epping, Australia
Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Australia.
Eur Respir Rev. 2025 May 28;34(176). doi: 10.1183/16000617.0260-2024. Print 2025 Apr.
Innovation in ultrasound technology has led to the development of portable devices which can transmit images in real time to a remotely located expert, known as live teleultrasound. This allows immediate feedback on image acquisition, assistance with interpretation and subsequent clinical decision-making.
We performed a systematic review of the literature to examine outcomes related to live teleultrasound of the chest.
A systematic search for studies reporting outcomes from live teleultrasound of the chest (excluding cardiac) in adults was performed in PubMed, MEDLINE, Embase, CINAHL and Cochrane CENTRAL. At least two independent reviewers were involved in screening, data extraction and critical appraisal.
In total, 1855 eligible studies were identified. Of those, 106 studies progressed to full-text screening and 43 studies were included for data extraction. Case reports and feasibility studies were most prevalent, and study quality was low overall. Commonly reported outcomes included 1) image quality rated by a remote clinician; 2) remote clinician's comfort in making management decisions; and 3) comparison of teleultrasound image acquisition with images acquired at the bedside by an expert. Three diagnostic accuracy studies demonstrated a high accuracy of teleultrasound for the identification of signs such as lung sliding, the interstitial syndrome and pleural effusion. Consolidation was less reliably identified. Eight studies collected qualitative data on attitudes of remote and face-to-face clinicians, which were consistently positive.
Low-quality evidence suggests that live teleultrasound can be used to assess the lungs and pleural space; however, further study is required to ensure its diagnostic accuracy.
超声技术的创新推动了便携式设备的发展，这些设备能够将图像实时传输给远程专家，即实时远程超声。这使得能够对图像采集立即给予反馈，协助解读并进行后续临床决策。
我们对文献进行了系统综述，以研究与胸部实时远程超声相关的结果。
在PubMed、MEDLINE、Embase、CINAHL和Cochrane CENTRAL中对报告成人胸部（不包括心脏）实时远程超声结果的研究进行系统检索。至少两名独立评审员参与筛选、数据提取和批判性评价。
共识别出1855项符合条件的研究。其中，106项研究进入全文筛选，43项研究纳入数据提取。病例报告和可行性研究最为普遍，总体研究质量较低。常见报告的结果包括：1）远程临床医生评定的图像质量；2）远程临床医生做出管理决策时的舒适度；3）远程超声图像采集与专家在床边采集的图像的比较。三项诊断准确性研究表明，远程超声对识别肺滑动、间质综合征和胸腔积液等征象具有较高的准确性。实变的识别可靠性较低。八项研究收集了关于远程和面对面临床医生态度的定性数据，结果均为积极。
低质量证据表明，实时远程超声可用于评估肺部和胸膜腔；然而，需要进一步研究以确保其诊断准确性。
