• Andrea R Levine, Jessica A Buchner, Avelino C Verceles, Marc T Zubrow, Haney A Mallemat, Alfred Papali, and Michael T McCurdy.
• Division of Pulmonary, Allergy, and Critical Care Medicine, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, 3459 Fifth Avenue, 628 NW, Pittsburgh, PA, 15213, United States. Electronic address: levinar@upmc.edu.
• J Crit Care. 2016 Jun 1; 33: 51-5.

PurposeRemote telementored ultrasound (RTMUS) systems can deliver ultrasound (US) expertise to regions lacking highly trained bedside ultrasonographers and US interpreters. To date, no studies have evaluated the quality and clinical utility of US images transmitted using commercially available RTMUS systems.MethodsThis prospective pilot evaluated the quality of US images (right internal jugular vein, lung apices and bases, cardiac subxiphoid view, bladder) obtained using a commercially available iPad operating FaceTime software. A bedside non-physician obtained images and a tele-intensivist interpreted them. All US screen images were simultaneously saved on the US machine and captured via a FaceTime screen shot. The tele-intensivist and an independent US expert rated image quality and utility in guiding clinical decisions.ResultsThe tele-intensivist rated FaceTime images as high quality (90% [69/77]) and could comfortably make clinical decisions using these images (96% [74/77]). Image quality did not differ between FaceTime and US images (97% (75/77). Strong inter-rater reliability existed between tele-intensivist and US expert evaluations (Spearman's rho 0.43; P<.001).ConclusionAn RTMUS system using commercially available two-way audiovisual technology can transmit US images without quality degradation. For most anatomic sites assessed, US images acquired using FaceTime are not inferior to those obtained directly with the US machine.Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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