Using smartphone to evaluate Cranial Computed Tomography videos: an inter-observer study

Abstract

Many clinicians receive Cranial Computed Tomography (CCT) images or videos by their smartphone. The aim of this study was to evaluate the reliability of the CCT videos that are shared through smartphone in the diagnosis. The CCT videos that were sent via WhatsApp were examined in 9 sections: soft tissue, bone structure, parenchyma, ventricle, vascular structures, middle ear, orbits, sinuses and the extra axial space. The CCT videos were analyzed in 9 sections; there was a perfect agreement among specialists in one of these sections, good agreement in 6 and poor agreement in 2. When compared with the gold standard, it was shown that 5 out of 9 sections could be an alternative to the gold standard. It may be thought that evaluation of the CCT videos can be obtained with messenger applications such as WhatsApp, which is a cheap, fast and common application. But this study shows that diagnostic images and videos shared through the smartphone by a messenger application can not be an alternative to standard evaluations.