Purpose: To evaluate and compare the clinical performance of observers interpreting head CT images from patients with symptoms of acute stroke with a medical workstation or a smartphone or laptop reading system.Materials and methods: Our institutional review board approved this retrospective study and waived the requirement for informed consent. We employed a factorial design including 2,256 interpretations (188 patients  4 neuroradiologists  3 reading systems). Accuracy equivalence tests, at a threshold of 5% and 10%, were performed for the following variables: detection of imaging contraindications for intravenous recombinant tissue-type plasminogen activator administration (eg, hemorrhagic lesions), ischemic lesions, hyperdense arteries, and acute ischemic lesions. For each clinical variable, the sensitivity, specificity, and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were evaluated.Results: For each variable, the shapes of the ROC curves were very similar for all of the reading systems, indicating similar observer performance with different specificities and sensitivities. For all the clinical variables, the areas under the ROC curves were equivalent for all of the reading systems at a 10% threshold and were equivalent at a 5% threshold for hemorrhagic lesions, hyperdense middle cerebral artery, and acute ischemic lesion in the middle cerebral artery territory. There was no more than 30 seconds of difference between the reading time of the mobile devices compared with that for the medical workstation. Conclusion:The results of this pilot study showed equivalent diagnostic accuracy when using smartphone and laptops compared with medical monitors to interpret head CT images of patients with symptoms of acute stroke.

Introduction The aim of this study was to assess individual regions of the Alberta Stroke Program Early CT Score in noncontrast head computed tomography interpretations using a smartphone in a telestroke network, by comparison to a medical monitor. Methods The review board of our institution approved this retrospective study. A factorial design with 188 patients, four radiologists and two reading systems was used. Accuracy and reliability were evaluated. Results Very good interobserver agreements were observed on the total Alberta Stroke Program Early CT Score for both the medical and smartphone reading systems, with intraclass correlation coefficients of 0.91 and 0.84 respectively. Interobserver agreements were moderate to very good for the medical reading system (all intraclass correlation coefficients >0.74), whereas they were fair to very good for the smartphone (intraclass correlation coefficients ranged from 0.31–0.81). All intraobserver agreements were good (intraclass correlation coefficient >0.64), except for internal capsule (0.48) and M2 (0.55) regions. The areas under the receiver-operating curve ranged from 0.69–0.89 for the medical system, while for the smartphone ranged from 0.44–0.86. No statistical differences were observed between medical and smartphone reading systems for each region (all p >  0.05). Discussion If radiologists are better trained in the evaluation of the lesions in the insula, the internal capsule and the M2 regions, the total and the dichotomised Alberta Stroke Program Early CT Score will be more precise. Hence, ruling out contraindications to thrombolysis administration will be improved, allowing assessment of head computed tomography in a telestroke network using a smartphone to be a common practice.

Aim:This study compares the reliability of brain CT interpretations performed using a diagnostic workstation and a mobile tablet computer in a telestroke context. Methods: A factorial design with 1,452 interpretations was used. Reliability was evaluated using the Fleiss’ kappa coefficient on the agreements of the interpretation results on the lesion classification, presence of imaging contraindications to the intravenous recombinant tissue-type plasminogen activator (t-PA) administration, and on the Alberta Stroke Program Early CT Score (ASPECTS). Results: The intra-observer agreements were as follows: good agreement on the overall lesion classification (κ= 0.63, p<0.001), very good agreement on hemorrhagic lesions (κ= 0.89, p<0.001), and moderate agreements on both without acute lesion classification and acute ischemic lesion classification (κ= 0.59 and κ= 0.58 respectively, p<0.001). There was good intra-observer agreement on the dichotomized-ASPECTS (κ= 0.65, p<0.001). Conclusions: The results of our study allow us to conclude that the reliability of the mobile solution for interpreting brain CT images of patients with acute stroke was assured, which would allow efficient and low-cost telestroke services.

No abstract

No abstract