Cargando…
The use of Vsee videoconferencing for live telepathology in Rwanda, a potential solution for resource-limited area
OBJECTIVE: The shortage of pathologists is a worldwide problem that is more severe in Africa. One of the solutions is the use of telepathology (TP); however, most of the TP systems are expensive and unaffordable in many developing countries. At the University Teaching Hospital of Kigali, Rwanda, we...
Autores principales: | , , , , , |
---|---|
Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
Publicado: |
SAGE Publications
2023
|
Materias: | |
Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9969432/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36860909 http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/20552076231159184 |
_version_ | 1784897725637066752 |
---|---|
author | Manirakiza, Felix Niyoyita, Jean Paul Habanabakize, Thomas Ndagijimana, Emmanuel Surwumwe, Jean Bosco Rugwizangoga, Belson |
author_facet | Manirakiza, Felix Niyoyita, Jean Paul Habanabakize, Thomas Ndagijimana, Emmanuel Surwumwe, Jean Bosco Rugwizangoga, Belson |
author_sort | Manirakiza, Felix |
collection | PubMed |
description | OBJECTIVE: The shortage of pathologists is a worldwide problem that is more severe in Africa. One of the solutions is the use of telepathology (TP); however, most of the TP systems are expensive and unaffordable in many developing countries. At the University Teaching Hospital of Kigali, Rwanda, we assessed the possibility of combining commonly available laboratory tools into a system that can be used for diagnostic TP using Vsee videoconferencing. METHODOLOGY: Using an Olympus microscope (with a camera) operated by a laboratory technologist, histologic images were transmitted to a computer whose screen was shared, using Vsee, with a remotely located pathologist who made the diagnoses. Sixty consecutive small biopsies (≤6 glass slides) from different tissues were examined to make a diagnosis using live Vsee-based videoconferencing TP. Vsee-based diagnoses were compared to pre-existing light microscopy-based diagnoses. Percent agreement and unweighted Cohen’s kappa coefficient of the agreement were calculated. RESULTS: For agreement between conventional microscopy-based and Vsee-based diagnoses, we found an unweighted Cohen’s kappa of 0.77 ± 0.07SE with a 95% CI of 0.62–0.91. The perfect percent agreement was 76.6% (46 of 60). Agreement with minor discrepancy was 15% (9 of 60). There were 2 cases of major discrepancy (3.30%). We were unable to make a diagnosis in 3 cases (5%) because of poor image quality related to the instantaneous internet connectivity problems. CONCLUSION: This system provided promising results. However, additional studies to assess other parameters which can affect its performance are needed before this system can be considered an alternative method of providing TP services in resource-limited settings. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-9969432 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2023 |
publisher | SAGE Publications |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-99694322023-02-28 The use of Vsee videoconferencing for live telepathology in Rwanda, a potential solution for resource-limited area Manirakiza, Felix Niyoyita, Jean Paul Habanabakize, Thomas Ndagijimana, Emmanuel Surwumwe, Jean Bosco Rugwizangoga, Belson Digit Health Original Research OBJECTIVE: The shortage of pathologists is a worldwide problem that is more severe in Africa. One of the solutions is the use of telepathology (TP); however, most of the TP systems are expensive and unaffordable in many developing countries. At the University Teaching Hospital of Kigali, Rwanda, we assessed the possibility of combining commonly available laboratory tools into a system that can be used for diagnostic TP using Vsee videoconferencing. METHODOLOGY: Using an Olympus microscope (with a camera) operated by a laboratory technologist, histologic images were transmitted to a computer whose screen was shared, using Vsee, with a remotely located pathologist who made the diagnoses. Sixty consecutive small biopsies (≤6 glass slides) from different tissues were examined to make a diagnosis using live Vsee-based videoconferencing TP. Vsee-based diagnoses were compared to pre-existing light microscopy-based diagnoses. Percent agreement and unweighted Cohen’s kappa coefficient of the agreement were calculated. RESULTS: For agreement between conventional microscopy-based and Vsee-based diagnoses, we found an unweighted Cohen’s kappa of 0.77 ± 0.07SE with a 95% CI of 0.62–0.91. The perfect percent agreement was 76.6% (46 of 60). Agreement with minor discrepancy was 15% (9 of 60). There were 2 cases of major discrepancy (3.30%). We were unable to make a diagnosis in 3 cases (5%) because of poor image quality related to the instantaneous internet connectivity problems. CONCLUSION: This system provided promising results. However, additional studies to assess other parameters which can affect its performance are needed before this system can be considered an alternative method of providing TP services in resource-limited settings. SAGE Publications 2023-02-23 /pmc/articles/PMC9969432/ /pubmed/36860909 http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/20552076231159184 Text en © The Author(s) 2023 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0 License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/) which permits non-commercial use, reproduction and distribution of the work as published without adaptation or alteration, without further permission provided the original work is attributed as specified on the SAGE and Open Access page (https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/open-access-at-sage). |
spellingShingle | Original Research Manirakiza, Felix Niyoyita, Jean Paul Habanabakize, Thomas Ndagijimana, Emmanuel Surwumwe, Jean Bosco Rugwizangoga, Belson The use of Vsee videoconferencing for live telepathology in Rwanda, a potential solution for resource-limited area |
title | The use of Vsee videoconferencing for live telepathology in Rwanda, a
potential solution for resource-limited area |
title_full | The use of Vsee videoconferencing for live telepathology in Rwanda, a
potential solution for resource-limited area |
title_fullStr | The use of Vsee videoconferencing for live telepathology in Rwanda, a
potential solution for resource-limited area |
title_full_unstemmed | The use of Vsee videoconferencing for live telepathology in Rwanda, a
potential solution for resource-limited area |
title_short | The use of Vsee videoconferencing for live telepathology in Rwanda, a
potential solution for resource-limited area |
title_sort | use of vsee videoconferencing for live telepathology in rwanda, a
potential solution for resource-limited area |
topic | Original Research |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9969432/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36860909 http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/20552076231159184 |
work_keys_str_mv | AT manirakizafelix theuseofvseevideoconferencingforlivetelepathologyinrwandaapotentialsolutionforresourcelimitedarea AT niyoyitajeanpaul theuseofvseevideoconferencingforlivetelepathologyinrwandaapotentialsolutionforresourcelimitedarea AT habanabakizethomas theuseofvseevideoconferencingforlivetelepathologyinrwandaapotentialsolutionforresourcelimitedarea AT ndagijimanaemmanuel theuseofvseevideoconferencingforlivetelepathologyinrwandaapotentialsolutionforresourcelimitedarea AT surwumwejeanbosco theuseofvseevideoconferencingforlivetelepathologyinrwandaapotentialsolutionforresourcelimitedarea AT rugwizangogabelson theuseofvseevideoconferencingforlivetelepathologyinrwandaapotentialsolutionforresourcelimitedarea AT manirakizafelix useofvseevideoconferencingforlivetelepathologyinrwandaapotentialsolutionforresourcelimitedarea AT niyoyitajeanpaul useofvseevideoconferencingforlivetelepathologyinrwandaapotentialsolutionforresourcelimitedarea AT habanabakizethomas useofvseevideoconferencingforlivetelepathologyinrwandaapotentialsolutionforresourcelimitedarea AT ndagijimanaemmanuel useofvseevideoconferencingforlivetelepathologyinrwandaapotentialsolutionforresourcelimitedarea AT surwumwejeanbosco useofvseevideoconferencingforlivetelepathologyinrwandaapotentialsolutionforresourcelimitedarea AT rugwizangogabelson useofvseevideoconferencingforlivetelepathologyinrwandaapotentialsolutionforresourcelimitedarea |