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Medicine has evolved considerably in recent decades in part thanks to information and communication technologies in health (ICTs). However, face-to-face consultations continue to be the predominant model, since alternatives such as telemedicine are still the subject of debate. On the other hand, in some very specific specialties, centralization is relevant, mainly due to the low frequency and prevalence of diseases, as well as the need to have highly specialized professionals, causing problems in terms of accessibility and costs for the health system. In this study we have analyzed the first consultations to an orthopedics oncology service at a tertiary institution and performed an analysis of economic costs was carried out between 2 possible scenarios: face-to-face consultations versus telemedicine. Analyzing the 2 scenarios, there would be a cost-benefit in the use of telemedicine leading to a decrease in healthcare cost between 12.2% and 72%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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ABSTRACT The use of interactive surgical scenarios for virtual preoperative planning of osteotomies has increased in the last 5 years. As it has been reported by several authors, this technology has been used in tumor resection osteotomies, knee osteotomies, and spine surgery with good results. A digital three-dimensional preoperative plan makes possible to quantitatively evaluate the transfer process from the virtual plan to the anatomy of the patient. We introduce an exact definition of accuracy and precision of this transfer process for planar bone cutting. We present a method to compute these properties from ex vivo data. We also propose a clinical score to assess the goodness of a cut. A computer simulation is used to characterize the definitions and the data generated by the measurement method. The definitions and method are evaluated in 17 ex vivo planar cuts of tumor resection osteotomies. The results show that the proposed method and definitions are highly correlated with a previous definition of accuracy based in ISO 1101. The score is also evaluated by showing that it distinguishes among different transfer techniques based in its distribution location and shape. The introduced definitions produce acceptable results in cases where the ISO-based definition produce counter intuitive results. © 2015 Orthopaedic Research Society. Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Orthop Res 33:699-704, 2015. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]