A portable telemedicine platform equipped with tools for neurological examinations, the """"""""Neurological Telemedicine Instrumentation Pack,"""""""" is proposed for the routine examination of patients complaining of tremor. The implementation of neurological evaluation tools via this portable telemedicine platform will provide an extension of the physician and clinical technology outside of the well equipped clinical facility. We expect that this development will provide a more expedient, less expensive, and more widely available method for assessment of tremor disorders than currently available, especially within the context of home care, nursing home care, and rural clinic health care contexts. The phase I activities will entail collaboration with individuals in currently underserved and oversubscribed clinical markets; the implementation of a bench prototype for the measurement and diagnosis of tremor implemented using the TIP as a portable telemedicine platform; and the formation of a plan for Phase Il development of a technically feasible and commercially viable product for the measurement and diagnosis of tremor disorders.
As the TIP technology was originally developed for use by individuals with little medical training, it is applicable to remote health care situations in which the medical provider is not a physician. The NTIP represents a small transportable telemedicine clinic for a travelling physician, physicians assistant, or nurse practitioner providing telemedical care in the home, rural, remote, or otherwise medically underserved areas. The NTIP is perfect for small hospitals and clinics with insufficient space to establish a telemedicine examination room, or to equip and staff a neurological evaluation suite. Medical teams responding to natural or man-made disasters can use the NTIP, and a cellular modem or a portable satellite to establish a field hospital with telemedicine consulting capabilities.
