Systematic review of technologies and methods of tele-ultrasound
Objective. To systematize data on the technologies and methods of tele-ultrasound. Material and methods. Data were collected using PubMed (including MEDLINE), Embase, Google Scholar, CYBERLENINKA, eLIBRARY databases. There were 1,032 articles which were subjected to text analysis using Rayyan QCRI software package. Thus, the review included 57 articles devoted to tele-ultrasound. The manuscripts were divided into 2 groups: technical support for tele-ultrasound (35 articles) and robotic ultrasound systems (22 articles). The main points were summarized for these modalities. Results. Implementation of tele-ultrasound is possible in two fashions: on-line and in «save and transmit» mode. Various technologies were used for ultrasound data transmission - e-mail, sending ultrasound data on solid carriers through courier services, ISDN, duplex and satellite communication channels. Recently, ultrasound data transmission via the Internet and mobile phones has gained a great importance. Various software solutions including NetMeeting, iChat and Skype are used for tele-ultrasound. We separate an additional group of robotic ultrasound. Various schemes of tele-ultrasound based on robotic devices and ultrasound sensor positioning system were described. Conclusion. Further development of tele-ultrasound is seen in symbiosis with artificial intelligence technology, that will make it possible to conduct automated analysis of ultrasound data. In the near future, tele-ultrasound will significantly improve an accuracy of diagnosis by reducing the operator dependence of ultrasound examination.