Technical validation of low-cost videoconferencing systems applied in orthopaedic teleconsulting services

Investigation on the applicability of low-cost videoconferencing (VC) for h ealth care services is becoming a real need. Reduced resources drive the ad ministrators to evaluate inexpensive solutions for telemedicine. Considerin g this scenario, this work is a preliminary step to validate, from a techni cal point of view, if low-cost VC systems could be suitable for orthopaedic teleconsulting services. For this purpose, four different videoconferencin g systems were tested. Each VC system was composed of a computer and a VC d evice installed in. VC devices were chosen among the most popular and distr ibuted products (made by Intel, PictureTel and Aethra). The Telemedicine Be nchmark, a specific tool defined by the authors, was applied to measure the overall systems performances in terms of time delays during basic rate ISD N connections (128 Kbit/s). Results showed that it is possible to apply low -cost videoconferencing systems for orthopaedic teleconsulting services. Mo st of the systems provided acceptable performance for medical image visuali zation and real time joint working. Further developments are recommendable to enhance the VC software tools capabilities and to improve software-user interface. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.