History of the Scientific Rationale of the «Telemedicine» Concept: Professor K.T. Bird’s Research Group Contribution

Scientific development of the problems of using telecommunications for medical purposes covers the period from the second half of the 19th century to the present day. The progress of technical and methodological aspects proceeded in parallel. After decades of scientific knowledge’s evolution, in the 1970s the concept and the term «telemedicine» appeared. The purpose of the article is to reconstruct the history of the scientific rationale of the «telemedicine» concept and term, also as to study the activities of the scientific group that played a key role in this process. In 1968-1976 at the Massachusetts General Hospital (USA), a scientific group of Professor Kenneth Bird functioned; they carried out two scientific projects to create a «telemedicine network». The group made consistent research, which resulted in the substantiation the «telemedicine» as the distant medical care using telecommunication technologies; the corresponding term was introduce into scientific circulation. The necessity of an integrated approach is substantiated. «Telemedicine» is perceived as a set of electrical communications, diagnostic devices, and methods of translation and interpretation of medical data. The scientific group for the first time evaluated the accuracy of distant diagnostic decisions made using two-way television communication. The special design for this scientific study created. Now, it become a classic.

telemedicine, telecommunication history, videoconferencing, Kenneth Bird