A national telepathology trial in Sweden feasibility and assessment

The telepathology trial in Sweden was designed to study several parameters, eg, the specific need, practical handling, image quality and acceptance of a static imaging system for consultations between pathologists. From September 1992 until December 1993, six telepathology systems were leased and temporarily installed for 8 to 10 weeks in 29 pathology departments in Swedish hospitals. Three telepathology systems were purchased by the university hospitals in Gothenburg, Linkôping and Uppsala and served as permanent nodes. To assess the project, pre and post field-test questionnaire (focusing on attitudes/expectations and experience/wishes for the future, respectively) were sent to all participating pathologists and cytologists. Although other assessment methods were included in the project, this paper concentrates on the study of questionnaire results. The study shows that the major medical requirements for telepathology in Sweden involve diagnostic questions concerning: cancers in general, grade of malignancy, malignancy of soft tissue, haematopoetic system, skeletal system, breast, uro-genital systems and applications in the field of dermatology, inflammations and transplantations. Telepathology will enhance diagnostic accuracy according to 37% of the responding physicians in the pre field-test study and 31% in the post field-test study, a drop which may reflect excessively high expectations or less than optimal test conditions. A static-image transfer telepathology system was used but the assessment clearly shows that pathologists and cytologists prefer a dynamic imaging telepathology system for the future. Image resolution is crucial and was not adequate for all applications in the study. Half of the respondents preferred having a telepathology system in their own departments.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)