Multimodal tele-epileptology: Challenges on the way to interoperable medical data

Area of Science:

• Neurology
• Medical Informatics
• Telemedicine

Background:

• Epilepsy management requires efficient data sharing between specialists.
• Current telemedicine platforms face challenges in multimodal data exchange.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the technical feasibility of a multimodal data exchange platform for epilepsy telemedicine.
• To evaluate user satisfaction and identify limitations in implemented workflows.

Main Methods:

• A multicenter, prospective pilot study (TE Ruhr) involving an epilepsy center and regional/international partners.
• Development and testing of two technical workflows: one with teleradiology, one web-application only.
• User survey conducted post-implementation for the regional arm.

Main Results:

• Both developed workflows were technically implementable, but workflow 1 was not feasible in peripheral hospitals.
• Workflow 2 facilitated 149 consults for 144 patients, with users reporting high satisfaction (1.6/6).
• Web applications enabled multimodal data exchange, but usability was hampered by a lack of interoperability.

Conclusions:

• Technical feasibility does not guarantee the adoption of telemedicine solutions.
• Achieving genuine interoperability of medical data is essential for successful multimodal data exchange in telemedicine.