Appropriate Technology for Telemedicine in Developing Countries

Introduction There is an acute shortage of medical specialists in many developing countries. In sub-Saharan Africa, there are 14 countries that do not have a single radiologist[1]. Internet connections are now available in the capitals of 53 of the 54 African countries[2], but email is more widely available and more robust over unreliable network connections. Modern digital still cameras have sufficient resolution for a variety of medical images. Several physicians in rural Africa are successfully photographing x-rays on a viewing box, (or well lit window!) and combining them with other clinical images to make email telemedicine referrals. We are developing software to simplify the task of organizing and sending this data.