Della Mea V, Puglisi F, Bonzanini M, Forti S, Amoroso V, Visentin R, Dalla Palma P, Beltrami C A
Department of Anatomic Pathology, University of Udine, Italy.
Mod Pathol. 1997 Jun;10(6):636-41.
Telepathology is a field of telemedicine that enables the exchange of histologic and cytologic images for consultations among pathologists of two or more remote institutions, through a suitable communication channel. The Internet can connect several scientific and medical institutions because of the existence of a set of standard protocols that allow different computers to communicate; multimedia electronic mail is one such protocol, which allows asynchronous transmission of multimedia documents, i.e., including text, images, movies, and sounds. The aim of the present article is to test a novel approach in which Internet multimedia electronic mail is used as a communication medium to obtain an asynchronous telepathology tool for remote consultation. To assess the diagnostic validity of the method, 48 cases of fine-needle aspiration cytology of breast lesions were sent from Udine to Trento, Italy. Comparisons between local and remote diagnoses, and cytologic diagnoses versus subsequent histologic reports demonstrated that Internet multimedia electronic mail is suitable for remote consultation. Internet multimedia electronic mail thus presents an additional diagnostic tool that is easy to use, available on a wide range of computers, and inexpensive, because its cost is independent of distance.
远程病理学是远程医疗的一个领域，它能够通过合适的通信渠道，在两个或更多远程机构的病理学家之间交换组织学和细胞学图像以进行会诊。由于存在一组允许不同计算机进行通信的标准协议，互联网能够连接多个科研和医疗机构；多媒体电子邮件就是这样一种协议，它允许异步传输多媒体文档，即包括文本、图像、电影和声音。本文的目的是测试一种新方法，即将互联网多媒体电子邮件用作通信媒介，以获得用于远程会诊的异步远程病理学工具。为评估该方法的诊断有效性，48例乳腺病变细针穿刺细胞学病例从意大利乌迪内发送至特伦托。本地诊断与远程诊断之间的比较，以及细胞学诊断与后续组织学报告之间的比较表明，互联网多媒体电子邮件适用于远程会诊。因此，互联网多媒体电子邮件提供了一种额外的诊断工具，该工具易于使用，在多种计算机上均可使用，且成本低廉，因为其成本与距离无关。
