A feasibility study of UMTS mobile phones for supporting nurses doing home visits to patients with diabetic foot...

We tested the feasibility of Universal Mobile Telephone System (UMTS) mobile phones for video consultations in the home. Five patients with diabetic foot ulcers were included in the study. Each of them was offered three video consultations instead of visits to the hospital outpatient clinic. The consultations took from 5 to 18 min. In all 15 consultations, the hospital experts were able to assess the ulcer in cooperation with the visiting nurse and to decide on the treatment. However, technical problems sometimes made it difficult for them. Connectivity problems occurred in seven of the 15 consultations. Also, the audio signal was rather unstable at times. In all situations except one, however, the clinicians were able to reach a decision that the expert felt confident about, and after all consultations the atmosphere and participants' attitudes were very positive.