TELERADIOLOGY IN COVID-19 PANDEMIC - REDEFINING DIGITAL DENTISTRY- A REVIEW

Anuraag Bhaskar Choudhary; Mukta B. Motwani; Trupti Chordia Choudhary; Yogesh Rathod

Volume : IX, Issue : VIII, August - 2020

TELERADIOLOGY IN COVID-19 PANDEMIC - REDEFINING DIGITAL DENTISTRY- A REVIEW

Anuraag Bhaskar Choudhary, Mukta B. Motwani, Trupti Chordia Choudhary, Yogesh Rathod

Abstract :

As COVID–19 continues to spread across the world, healthcare personnel are working 24/7 to treat more than 6.42 million confirmed cases across the world and 2.27 lacs cases all over India. As our community professionals continue to treat infected patients, they risk contracting and spreading the virus themselves. Now more than ever, determining how to best protect patients and facility personnel is critical. Fortunately, advancements in medical technology allow some industry professionals to work remotely, joining many Indians in avoiding virus exposure and attempting to �flatten the curve.� Not only General Radiologists�who have already been instrumental in the detection and early diagnoses of COVID–19 cases but also Maxillofacial radiologists with proper Knowledge and attitude of Maxillofacial Imaging�can effectively conduct their work from home with the use of Teleradiology (TR). TR provides the same functionality for physicians as their onsite workstations, allowing radiologists to read images and diagnose from the safety of their home. As the fight against COVID–19 continues, there is a growing need to make TR solutions more common mostly in dental emergancies especially in highly sensitive group of Children under age of 10 years and geriatric patients. The demand for diagnostic and image interpretation services in radiology is growing rapidly all over the world. This has highlighted two issues like the lack of adequate staff for providing interpretative coverage and the lack of specialty expertise. To some extent, these problems can be overcome by utilizing robust communication and image transfer systems to draw on the expertise of distantly located radiologists. This process whereby images are transferred to distant locations for the purpose of interpretation and diagnosis is termed TR. In modern radiology departments in both the academic and private sectors it has become commonplace to select the location of a fully functioning picture and archiving communications system (PACS) workstation based on manpower and workflow considerations rather than proximity to the site of image acquisition. In addition, affordable scaled down TR solutions have allowed referring physicians and radiologists to access imaging from the convenience of their homes and offices. This review summarizes some of the key issues in image acquisition, transmission, and interpretation. These summaries are followed by a discussion of the clinical practice of TR in general as well as during COVID 19 Pandemic to greater extent and also sh� knowledge gained from practical experience that can be useful in helping a TR program meet its full potential.