IfG.CC -
Institute for eGovernment

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has joined hands with the Aga Khan Rural Support Programme (AKRSP) to implement spoken English programme for the tribals in the rural areas of Narmada, Surendranagar, Bharuch, Surat and Junagadh through VSAT connectivity, a media report said on Tuesday.

The space organisation will extend telemedicine network at all district hospitals of Jharkhand. Under this project, specialised doctors of reputable city hospitals will be able to treat patients residing in remote places.

Toggling two iPhones, each downloading live data from patients in Kolar in Karnataka and Kolkata in West Bengal, paediatric retinal surgeon Anand Vinekar showed on Thursday how high-resolution retinal images can be received on the phone, diagnosed and a digitally signed medical report sent to the patient in any remote location.

Speaking at the inauguration of the CME programme in telemedicine at the Bowring and Lady Curzon Hospital on Monday, Health Secretary Ramanna Reddy said telemedicine project was not being utilised effectively.

The CME programme in telemedicine has been organised for doctors and technician to give them an overview and future prospects of telemedicine.

Welcome to telemedicine 2.0. "The iPhone's pinch, drag and drop capabilities, coupled with its good image resolution, are capable of detecting Retinopathy of Prematurity (RoP)," said Dr Anand Vinekar, pediatric retinal surgeon at Narayana Nethralaya.

The main focus is currently on diagnosing a condition called Retinopathy of Prematurity (ROP), which could lead to vision loss among infants. Dr Anand Vinekar, a pediatric retinal surgeon and the project coordinator at Narayana Nethralaya, said RoP must be treated in 48 to 72 hours to save the vision of the infants. However the problem is that just a handful of doctors are trained to recognize this condition and all of them invariably are based in cities.

For the past seven years, coronary care units with four medical graduates trained at Narayana Hrudayalaya are treating patients at the district hospital. Video-conferencing of patients and doctors across specializations is organized on appointment basis and only those cases needing surgery are referred to city hospitals. So far, 85,595 ECGs and 25,000 teleconsultations have been done, apart from 1,06,000 thrombosis cases by the 56 telemedicine centres in ten states. Malaysia, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, and the PAN-Africa enetwork service which caters to 53 cities in Africa, avail this service.

Using Intel processor technology, automating basic diagnosis tools like microscopes, ECG machines with intelligent algorithms in a smart box, and connecting small primary health clinics to medical expertise via broadband or GSM networks, the three-year-old company — Ktwo Technology Solutions — is attempting to redefine the term telemedicine. Among the things Ktwo is hoping to achieve, as it starts pilot programmes of the remote diagnosis system in four public health centres in Gadag and Bagalkot districts, is reduction of malaria deaths that often occur in rural areas due to the huge time lags between procuring blood samples and actual medical treatment.

Ever wondered what help the cabin crew of any airline can offer if you suffer a medical emergency such as a heart attack, haemorrhage, breathing trouble or what is called as the "Economy Class Syndrome" mid-air? Existing guidelines require every flight to carry a first-aid box for treating small injuries, a physician's box with life saving drugs and oxygen supply. But these things often fall short of requirements during an emergency.

Five super speciality hospitals in big cities and towns - two in Ahmedabad, and one each in Nadiad, Vadodara and Surat - have been linked with small hospitals in remote areas through the telemedicine network.

The first phase of the initiative will begin by making available patients’ medical history online. The in-house programme has been built with the aim of making available instantly, anytime, anywhere medical information and records of patients coming to the Institute.

PGI will soon introduce such bluetooth-enabled cellphones which can transfer physiological data from a measuring device to a doctor’s cellphone. The revolutionary technique is part of the three-year telemedicine project at PGI, funded by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

Odisha Trust for Technical Education and Training (OTTET) with technical support from Sanjay Gandhi post graduate institute of medical science (SGPGIMS), Lucknow has initiated this project.

Kedarnath Bhagat, spokesperson of OTTET said the patients of the state and this district could now get easy access to the specialists doctors working in AIIMS and other reputed hospitals and colleges of the country.

Addressing the valedictory session of the two-day annual conference of National Medicos Organisation (NMO) here, Bhandare also called for strengthening the primary and community health centres, which are the base of the rural healthcare system.

Underscoring the effective functioning of primary health care centres and community health centres, considered as the cornerstone of the rural health care system, the governor reiterated the government’s commitment in the health sector referring to programmes like NRHM.

According to information from an official, smart cards would be issued to families living below poverty line under nomenclature Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojna, a centrally sponsored scheme where a family has to pay Rs 30 for a year to get an insurance cover of Rs 30,000. All surgeries and major ailments would be covered and smart cards will be issued according to Centre's guidelines.

As a part of its e-government initiative, the Bihar government has asked Pune based Sadhna Group and Medsynaptic to connect diagnostic imaging centers and government hospitals to a central server. The project is expected to go live in six months.

“Currently available in 18 places including Rangia, Badarpur, Guwahati, Sonpur, Ratlam, Bhavnagar, Ahmedabad, Mumbai, Chennai, Vadodara and Rajkot, the telemedicine facility will soon be accessible in about 20 more places in Maharashtra, Jharkhand, Oriss a, Karnataka and Goa'' said a senior railway official.

Speaking after formally launching the Telemedicine facility for the rural areas at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital here, he said the country with 17000 hospitals and half a million doctors has the potential to give its people the best health care facilities.

However, I am not aware if these draft reports have been internalised by the department of health,” Rajeeva Ratna Shah, member-secretary, Planning Commission said on Friday.