Birth defects are a global problem. Experience from high-income countries shows that up to 70 percent of birth defects can either be prevented, or that affected children can be offered care that could be lifesaving or would reduce the severity of disability. Every year an estimated 7.9 million children (6percent of total births worldwide) are born with a serious birth defect of genetic or partially geneticorigin*.
“With nearly 30 million births in India, an estimated 1.5 to 2 million children are born with serious birth defects, every year. Serious birth defects can be lethal. Even when they are not lethal a significant number of these disorders can cause lifelong disability” said Dr S. Suresh, Director MediScan Systems, Chennai and one of the pioneers in the field of ultrasound and fetal medicine in India.
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“Timely monitoring and structured screening of pregnant mothers especially in the 11-13 week of pregnancy is critical for preventive and corrective measures to be taken early in the pregnancy cycle. Unfortunately, the numbers for fetal medicine specialists trained for handling possible abnormalities is too low in a country like India for the vast number of live births every year”, he added.
In a move to dramatically reduce birth defects in India, and to meet the challenges of this shortfall, MediScan Systems have partnered with Bangalore based i2i TeleSolutions, a leading supplier of Telemedicine Software to provide a TeleSonography platform that can link sonographers and experts from around the world. Experts can now monitor pregnancy, review and report on fetal health remotely be it through the internet or the mobile network.
"The ability to compress and securely transmit obstetric ultrasound images and data lossless to experts anywhere, anytime on platforms like the iPhone and iPAD, fundamentally changes the way healthcare can be accessed from remote locations ”, said Arindam Sen, Senior Vice President at i2i TeleSolutions.
"Providing pregnant mothers early access to fetal healthcare specialists without the constraint of geography is the primary goal of our TeleSonography platform”, said Sham Banerji, CEO of i2i TeleSolutions.
MediScan Systems, Chennai, played a key role in setting standards for Down syndrome screening and setting up a Birth Defects Registry of India. Under the guidance of Dr. Suresh, the Fetal Care Research Foundation has the vision to offer access to the most advanced fetal care for every fetus. The aim of the foundation is to provide preventive, supportive and curative care for birth defects. FCRF is involved in extensive activities to achieve this end.
The TeleSonography platform integrates the leading ultrasound reporting workstation SONOCARE™ from MediaLogic, developed under the guidance of Dr. Suresh with TelePACS™ Telemedicine platform from i2iTeleSolutions.
