Tele-virtual sonography
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O. Ferrer-Roca
Abstract
Objectives: 3D-Ultrasound reconstruction, routinely available since 1994, has brought new technical capabilities such as virtual sonography that can be tele-consulted. Our experience is summarized in the present paper.
Methods: During one year, 73 3D-US volumetric images coming from 34 patients were acquired and 68 were consulted at distance. Acquisitions were carried out through an existing 2D device adding a magnetic tracking system on the US-probe. Probe positioning and video output was introduced into a PC running software that allows the generation of 2D-orthogonal and 3D volume images, as well as tele-consultation. Several image analysis techniques for 3D-reconstruction were evaluated.
Results: Final volumes were small (1.5 Mb) and required about 4±2 min to be transmitted over one ISDN channel (64 Kbs). Good correlation (k=0.7) was found between local and distant diagnoses. In 30%, images were considered of low quality and in 29% of good quality; diagnosis could be done with confidence in all except 7 cases. Virtual sonography, by means of oblique cuts in all space directions, improved distant diagnostic confidence. Limitations were linked to incomplete sampling due to the short acquisition time periods (26 s) and difficulties on hand-free probe movement. 3D reconstructions were time consuming (20 min to 4 h) and of limited indication.
Conclusions: 3D reconstruction could reduce multiple explorations due to image constrains such as suboptimal fetal positioning, among others. Virtual sonography was important to reach confidence on distant diagnosis; it was also considered a tool for off-line local review of non-trained sonographer acquisitions.
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©2005 by Walter de Gruyter Berlin New York
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Artikel in diesem Heft
- Intrapartum fetal monitoring today
- Placental Doppler velocimetry in gestational diabetes mellitus
- Induction of labor with oral misoprostol in nulliparous mothers of twins
- Is the nausea and vomiting of early pregnancy really feto-protective?
- Tele-virtual sonography
- The effect of betamethasone administration on uterine motility in pregnancy. A prospective study using four-channel tocography
- Perinatal outcomes of spontaneous twins compared with twins conceived through intracytoplasmic sperm injection
- Doppler sonography of the uterine and the cubital arteries in normal pregnancies, preeclampsia and intrauterine growth restriction: evidence for a systemic vessel involvement
- The efficacy of first-trimester PAPP-A and free βhCG levels for predicting adverse pregnancy outcome
- Sonographic monitoring of systemic and local methotrexate (MTX) therapy in patients with intact interstitial pregnancies
- The Northwestern twin chorionicity study: testing the ‘placental crowding’ hypothesis
- Combined first trimester screening for trisomy 21: lack of agreement between risk calculation methods
- Neonatal septicemia in high risk babies in South-Eastern Nigeria
- Maternal antenatal administration of vitamin K1 results in increasing the activities of vitamin K-dependent coagulation factors in umbilical blood and in decreasing the incidence rate of periventricular-intraventricular hemorrhage in premature infants
- Antenatal diagnosis of velocardiofacial syndrome by 3D ultrasonography
- Congress Calendar
