Amrita Mobile Telemedicine Unit at Sabarimala

Kochi, Jan 11 (UNI) The Amrita Institute of Medical Science (AIMS) has commissioned Kerala's first mobile telemedicine unit at Pamba near the holy shrine of Sabarimala.

According to an official release here today, the Amrita Mobile Telemedicine Unit (AMTU) was designed and developed at AIMS with the support of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and Direct Relief International of the US.

The centrally air-conditioned Unit has state-of-the-art satellite-based videoconferencing capability and is equipped with a wide range of equipment permitting a large range of functions including color echocardiography, cardiac treadmill, gastroscopy, colonoscopy, retinal camera, ultrasonography, X-ray radiography, electrocardiography, a semi-autoanalyzer for biochemistry analysis, light microscopy and a digital photography.

The output from the unit would be transmitted to Amrita Hospital here for expert opinion, the release added.

After its commissioning at Pamba on January 9, around 10,000 patients have made use of the facility, the release added.

The innovative Unit has attracted international attention and has been presented at the United Nations meeting on ''Telemedicine in the reconstruction of Afghanistan,'' the release added.

UNI