Pacific Basin boasts lengthy tele-echocardiology link

Researchers at Tripler Army Medical Center in Honolulu are turning to real-time tele-echocardiology interpretation to overcome the distance between cardiologists and their often far-flung patient populations.

The real-time tele-echo interpretation methodology used by at Tripler involves a unique application of the eICU, a product from Baltimore-based VISICU. The eICU technology is described in the October 2004 issue of the Hawaii Medical Journal.

The eICU transmits high volumes of video, audio, and primary physiologic monitoring data over T1 lines at rates of up to 1544 kb/sec.

The connection between Tripler and Guam covers 3800 miles, the greatest distance that the technology has been reported to cover thus far.