Abstract
As there are no stroke specialists in medically under-served areas, the delivery of thrombolysis therapy using alteplase, the standard treatment for patients with acute ischemic stroke, is difficult. In February 2013, in Tokushima Prefectural Kaifu Hospital, we introduced a telemedicine system that uses a smartphone and the internet to treat patients with acute stroke. Using this system, physicians in this medically under-served area can relay neuro-radiological images such as CT or MRI scans and patient data any time via their smartphone to specialists such as neurosurgeons and cardiovascular surgeons at other sites. In the course of 11 months we used this system to treat 126 patients seen in the emergency room. This system facilitated the delivery of thrombolysis therapy using alteplase to four patients with acute ischemic stroke and we found telemedicine highly effective for the treatment of patients with acute stroke in medically under-served areas.
