The use of online health techniques to assist with the delivery of specialist paediatric diabetes services in Queensland

We have tested an alternative method of delivering health services to regional areas of Queensland. By integrating telepaediatrics into an existing outreach programme for children with diabetes and endocrine conditions, we were able to reduce travel for specialist hospital staff while maintaining (and sometimes increasing) the contact patients had with the specialist team. In the first 28 months, we facilitated 160 patient consultations and 10 education sessions via videoconference through the telepaediatric service. By the end of the study, site visits were taking place annually and routine videoconference clinics were scheduled quarterly for the review of new patients and follow-up. Telepaediatric services in endocrinology and diabetes were established at three levels: the coordination of routine specialist clinics via videoconference; ad hoc patient consultations for collaborative management during acute presentations and at times of urgent clinical need; and the delivery of education to staff and patients throughout the state. The net result was improved access to specialist services from rural and remote areas of Queensland.

A review of three years experience using email and videoconferencing for the delivery of post-acute burns care to children in Queensland

A virtual outpatient service has been established in Queensland for the delivery of post-acute burns care to children living in rural and remote areas of the state. The integration of telepaediatrics as a routine service has reduced the need for patient travel to the specialist burns unit situated in Brisbane. We have conducted 293 patient consultations over a period of 3 years. A retrospective review of our experience has shown that post-acute burns care can be delivered using videoconferencing, email and the telephone. Telepaediatric bums services have been valuable in two key areas. The first area involves a programme of routine specialist clinics via videoconference. The second area relates to ad-hoc patient consultations for collaborative management during acute presentations and at times of urgent clinical need. The families of patients have expressed a high degree of satisfaction with the service. Telepaediatric services have helped improve access to specialist services for people living in rural and remote communities throughout Queensland. (C) 2003 Elsevier Ltd and ISBI. All rights reserved.

Wireless telemedicine for the delivery of specialist paediatric services to the bedside

A mobile interactive online health system was used to conduct virtual ward rounds at a regional hospital which had no specialist paediatrician. The system was wireless, which allowed telepaediatric services to be delivered direct to the bedside. Between December 2004 and May 2005, 43 virtual ward rounds were coordinated between specialists based in Brisbane and local staff at the Gladstone Hospital. Eighty-six consultations were provided for 64 patients. The most common conditions included asthma (27%), chest infections (12%), gastroenteritis (10%) and urinary tract infections (10%). In the majority of cases, there were partial (67%) or complete changes (11%) in the clinical management of patients. Specialist services were offered by a team of 13 clinicians at the Royal Children's Hospital: 10 general paediatricians, two physiotherapists and one registered nurse. Feedback from all consultants involved in the service and local staff in Gladstone was extremely positive. In 43 videoconference calls there were three technical problems, probably due to an intermittent mains power supply at the regional hospital. There appears to be potential for other rural and regional hospitals to adopt this model of service delivery.

Lipid based particulate formulations for the delivery of antigen

Particulate adjuvant systems are largely classified according to their functional characteristics, such as the nature of the typical immune response they induce, or their perceived mode of action. From a formulation science perspective, it is practical to classify antigen delivery systems according to the physical nature of the formulations. This article discusses lipid based particulate systems, grouped according to the nature of their predominant lipid constituent.

Delivery of child development services by videoconferencing: a review of four years' experience in Queensland

In 2001 the Child Development Unit (CDU) in Brisbane piloted a series of monthly multidisciplinary case discussions via videoconference in the area of child development. During 2001 two sessions were provided; during 2004 there were 40. The substantial growth in 2004 was due to the expansion of child development services to include special interest group meetings and multipoint case conference meetings. In 2004, a total of 49 h of videoconferencing was conducted. The average session length was 75 min. Education and training sessions were delivered to 32 hospitals and health centres in Queensland and northern New South Wales. The maximum number of sites involved during a single videoconference was 25. The average number of attendees for each videoconference was five per site, including allied health staff, nurses and paediatricians. The delivery of child development services via videoconference has been shown to be useful in Queensland, especially for allied health staff working in regional and remote areas. The growth of the programme indicates its acceptance as a mainstream child development service in Queensland.

Monitoring the condition of savanna riparian zones in Northern Australia using high spatial resolution imagery and a field based rapid assessment method

Government agencies responsible for riparian environments are assessing the combined utility of field survey and remote sensing for mapping and monitoring indicators of riparian zone condition. The objective of this work was to compare the Tropical Rapid Appraisal of Riparian Condition (TRARC) method to a satellite image based approach. TRARC was developed for rapid assessment of the environmental condition of savanna riparian zones. The comparison assessed mapping accuracy, representativeness of TRARC assessment, cost-effectiveness, and suitability for multi-temporal analysis. Two multi-spectral QuickBird images captured in 2004 and 2005 and coincident field data covering sections of the Daly River in the Northern Territory, Australia were used in this work. Both field and image data were processed to map riparian health indicators (RHIs) including percentage canopy cover, organic litter, canopy continuity, stream bank stability, and extent of tree clearing. Spectral vegetation indices, image segmentation and supervised classification were used to produce RHI maps. QuickBird image data were used to examine if the spatial distribution of TRARC transects provided a representative sample of ground based RHI measurements. Results showed that TRARC transects were required to cover at least 3% of the study area to obtain a representative sample. The mapping accuracy and costs of the image based approach were compared to those of the ground based TRARC approach. Results proved that TRARC was more cost-effective at smaller scales (1-100km), while image based assessment becomes more feasible at regional scales (100-1000km). Finally, the ability to use both the image and field based approaches for multi-temporal analysis of RHIs was assessed. Change detection analysis demonstrated that image data can provide detailed information on gradual change, while the TRARC method was only able to identify more gross scale changes. In conclusion, results from both methods were considered to complement each other if used at appropriate spatial scales.