The first X-ray image of the human body was of his wife's hand exquisitely showing the bones and her wedding ring! He received the first Nobel Prize for physics in 1901. In 1895, Wilhelm Roentgen, Professor of Physics at the University of Wurzburg in Germany, discovered as he was experimenting with the conductivity of electricity through gases that a type of electromagnetic radiation (that he termed X-rays) could pass through various substances (like the human body) that are opaque to visible light. Interestingly, radiology is the only medical specialty that stemmed from serendipity. Hence, some of the evidence presented in this review highlights some of those applications when they are particularly compelling or present a unique use of teleradiology. It is important to note that although our focus is on teleradiology as it applies in a typical department of radiology, radiographic images are often acquired and used in a variety of other clinical specialties. Indeed, much of modern medicine would not be possible without radiology. In this article, we focus on a critical diagnostic specialty that constitutes an essential element in most, if not all, other clinical specialties and subspecialties. However, we expanded the scope of this review in the last article by focusing on primary care as a broad medical specialty that encompasses a broad range of disease entities and typically serves as a first point of entry in the health system and a coordinator of care for patients.
The evidence is organized on the basis of well-defined applications or disease entities.
Collectively, the purpose of the series is intended to establish the scientific evidence regarding the feasibility and effects of telemedicine interventions from the published research literature. Each article in the series has been focused on a clinical application, a disease entity, or a coherent set of clinical applications. This is the sixth in a series of articles aimed at assessing the empirical foundations for telemedicine interventions as indicated in the scientific research literature. Additional benefits include reductions in patient transfer, rehospitalization, and length of stay. A consistent trend of concordance between the two modalities was observed in terms of diagnostic accuracy and reliability. The majority of studies focused on intermediate outcomes, as indicated by comparability between teleradiology and conventional radiology. Findings: The evidence regarding feasibility of teleradiology and related information technology applications has been well documented for several decades. Methods : A selective review of the credible literature during the past decade (2005–2015) was conducted, using robust research design and adequate sample size as criteria for inclusion. This article documents the empirical foundations of teleradiology. Diagnostic radiology has become the eye of medicine in terms of diagnosing and treating injury and disease. Teleradiology also had its roots in technology dating back to 1947 with the successful transmission of radiographic images through telephone lines. Introduction : Radiology was founded on a technological discovery by Wilhelm Roentgen in 1895.