TY - JOUR
T1 - Digital Radiology to Improve the Quality of Care in Countries with Limited Resources
T2 - A Feasibility Study from Angola
AU - Zennaro, Floriana
AU - Oliveira Gomes, Joaquim António
AU - Casalino, Armando
AU - Lonardi, Magda
AU - Starc, Meta
AU - Paoletti, Pierpaolo
AU - Gobbo, Daniele
AU - Giusto, Chiara
AU - Not, Tarcisio
AU - Lazzerini, Marzia
PY - 2013/9/25
Y1 - 2013/9/25
N2 - Objective:Sub-standard quality in X-ray image acquisition and interpretation is common in low-resource countries, and can ultimately result in higher patient morbidity and mortality. This study aimed at evaluating; 1) feasibility of implementing a digital X-ray device in a second level hospital in Angola; 2) quality of digital X-ray images, when digital radiology was in the hands of local technicians; 3) feasibility of digital teleradiology and its potential impact on case management.Methods:We developed and tested at the Hospital Divina Providencia (HDP) in Luanda, Angola, a digital X-ray device and a telemedicine network to acquire and print digital X-ray images and send them as DICOM files for remote consultation.Results:20,564 digital X-ray images were made at HDP from November 2010 to December 2012, with no major technical problems and no need for on-site supervision. Digital radiology largely improved the number of X-ray images of good and very good quality (100% of images with digital radiology, compared to 15% of screen-film images, p
AB - Objective:Sub-standard quality in X-ray image acquisition and interpretation is common in low-resource countries, and can ultimately result in higher patient morbidity and mortality. This study aimed at evaluating; 1) feasibility of implementing a digital X-ray device in a second level hospital in Angola; 2) quality of digital X-ray images, when digital radiology was in the hands of local technicians; 3) feasibility of digital teleradiology and its potential impact on case management.Methods:We developed and tested at the Hospital Divina Providencia (HDP) in Luanda, Angola, a digital X-ray device and a telemedicine network to acquire and print digital X-ray images and send them as DICOM files for remote consultation.Results:20,564 digital X-ray images were made at HDP from November 2010 to December 2012, with no major technical problems and no need for on-site supervision. Digital radiology largely improved the number of X-ray images of good and very good quality (100% of images with digital radiology, compared to 15% of screen-film images, p
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U2 - 10.1371/journal.pone.0073939
DO - 10.1371/journal.pone.0073939
M3 - Article
C2 - 24086301
AN - SCOPUS:84884563707
VL - 8
JO - PLoS One
JF - PLoS One
SN - 1932-6203
IS - 9
M1 - e73939
ER -