11.6.1 National Library of Medicine (NIH)/National Institutes of Health (NIH)

The National Library of Medicine (NIH)/National Institutes of Health (NIH) sponsor innovative NGI testbed trials, pilot tests, and full-scale implementations in telemedicine and telehealthcare through the United States. These demonstration projects illustrate the role of the NGI in supporting medical education, healthcare, and medical research. As an example, NLM/NIH NGI projects facilitate transmission of bandwidth-intensive high-resolution images such as x-rays and MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) scans between isolated healthcare facilities and major healthcare centers where on-staff radiologists can determine the course of radiotherapy treatment. These trials also enable real-time teleconsultations between on-call physicians and medical experts in treating life-threatening injuries to trauma patients and clarify approaches for enabling the secure transmission of confidential and sensitive electronic patient data.

Moreover, NLM/NIH NGI projects evaluate benefits associated with providing telehealthcare services to patients in route to trauma centers, delivering tele-educational programs to families of high-risk newborns with very low birth weights, and using telemedicine networks to reduce isolation of rural primary care physicians. Methods for provisioning remote healthcare services to elderly patients with Alzheimer's disease over the NGI are evaluated. Approaches for using new medical imaging devices for improved detection of cancerous lesions via the NGI are investigated. The merits of using medical image reference libraries and TIE (Telemedicine Information Exchange), an online telemedicine repository, for provisioning access to digital images, data, and video representing normal and pathological medical conditions via the NGI are evaluated. Capabilities of the...