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Since the early studies exploring the use of SMS text messaging for health intervention, text messaging has played a pivotal role in the advancement of mobile health. As an intervention modality, text messaging has provided vital learnings for the design and delivery of interventions, particularly in low-resource settings. Despite the advances in technology over the last 25 years, text messaging is still being used in largely the same way to deliver health information, behavior change interventions, and support. The strong, consistent evidence for the benefits of this type of intervention has made text messaging a routine part of health interventions around the world. Key to its success is its simplicity, alongside the benefit of being arguably the most accessible form of consumer digital health intervention. Text message interventions are well suited for public health interventions due to their low cost, vast reach, frequent use, high read rates, and ability to be tailored and personalized. Furthermore, the nature of text messaging interventions makes them ideal for the delivery of multilingual, culturally tailored interventions, which is important in the context of increasing cultural diversity in many countries internationally. Indeed, studies assessing text message–based health interventions have shown them to be effective across sociodemographic and ethnic groups and have led to their adoption into national-level health promotion programs. With a growing focus on artificial intelligence, robotics, sensors, and other advances in digital health, there is an opportunity to integrate these technologies into text messaging programs. Simultaneously, it is essential that equity remains at the forefront for digital health researchers, developers, and implementers. Ensuring digital health solutions address inequities in health experienced across the world while taking action to maximize digital inclusion will ensure the true potential of digital health is realized. Text messaging has the potential to continue to play a pivotal role in the delivery of equitable digital health tools to communities around the world for many years to come. Further new technologies can build on the humble text message, leveraging its success to advance the field of digital health. This Viewpoint presents a retrospective of text messaging in health, drawing on the example of text message–based interventions for smoking cessation, and presents evidence for the continued relevance of this mobile health modality in 2025 and beyond.

Background The advancement of mobile technology had positively influenced healthcare services. An emerging subfield of mobile technology is mobile health (m-Health) in which mobile applications are used for health purposes. The aim of this study was to analyze and assess literature published in the field of m-Health. Methods SciVerse Scopus was used to retrieve literature in m-Health. The study period was set from 2006 to 2016. ArcGIS 10.1 was used to present geographical distribution of publications while VOSviewer was used for data visualization. Growth of publications, citation analysis, and research productivity were presented using standard bibliometric indicators. Results During the study period, a total of 5465 documents were published, giving an average of 496.8 documents per year. The h- index of retrieved documents was 81. Core keywords used in literature pertaining to m-Health included diabetes mellitus, adherence, and obesity among others. Relative growth rate and doubling time of retrieved literature were stable from 2009 to 2015 indicating exponential growth of literature in this field. A total of 4638 (84.9%) documents were multi-authored with a mean collaboration index of 4.1 authors per article. The United States of America ranked first in productivity with 1926 (35.2%) published documents. India ranked sixth with 183 (3.3%) documents while China ranked seventh with 155(2.8%) documents. VA Medical Center was the most prolific organization/institution while Journal of Medical Internet Research was the preferred journal for publications in the field of m-Health. Top cited articles in the field of m-Health included the use of mobile technology in improving adherence in HIV patients, weight loss, and improving glycemic control in diabetic patients. Conclusion The size of literature in m-Health showed a noticeable increase in the past decade. Given the large volume of citations received in this field, it is expected that applications of m-Health will be seen into various health aspects and health services. Research in m-Health needs to be encouraged, particularly in the fight against AIDS, poor medication adherence, glycemic control in Africa and other low income world regions where technology can improve health services and decrease disease burden.

This Review focuses on the growing area of telemedicine in the diagnosis and treatment of patients with acute stroke who are geographically remote from primary care centres. Hess and Audebert discuss telemedicine as a means to improve the availability of care for stroke patients, and the financial implications of this approach. Furthermore they highlight technological advances that might help to overcome barriers to the wider application of telemedicine in acute stroke care. This Review focuses on the application of telemedicine to the care of patients with acute stroke (telestroke), from the prehospital setting through hospitalization. Telestroke has grown remarkably in the past decade and has entered mainstream care for patients with acute stroke. Telestroke enables such patients to be remotely evaluated, thereby allowing optimal treatment and management even in clinically underserved areas and removing geographical disparities in access to expert care. Telestroke systems enable thrombolytic treatment to be administered in community and rural hospitals, and facilitate the appropriate transfer of patients with complex conditions (who require critical care services and neurosurgical or intra-arterial interventions) to a comprehensive stroke centre. Decision-analytic models show that telestroke is cost-effective from both a societal and a hospital perspective. Limitations to the use of telestroke in the USA include the need for state licensing and credentialling of physicians, and the technical requirements of a minimum network bandwidth (which is still lacking in some regions). However, the opportunity exists for telestroke to become the backbone of an electronic stroke unit and to be used to identify and enrol patients in clinical trials of acute stroke treatment. The use of telestroke in the prehospital setting has been hampered by limited telecommunication availability, but these problems might be mitigated by fourth-generation cellular data networks. Key Points Telestroke networks have expanded in the past decade, enabling rural and community hospitals to administer tissue plasminogen activator to patients intravenously in a timely, safe and effective manner Telestroke systems can also facilitate an electronic stroke unit, with ongoing follow-up and consultation by stroke specialists and nurse practitioners during the patient's hospitalization Telestroke could improve the rate of recruitment and enrolment of under-represented populations of patients into clinical trials of acute stroke treatment Telestroke is cost-effective from both societal and individual hospital perspectives Barriers to telestroke implementation in the USA include the lack of nationwide credentialling and licensing programmes; the Center for Medicare Services has streamlined the credentialling process, but national licences are lacking Telestroke is starting to move into the prehospital setting, but there are still technical barriers that might be mitigated by new fourth-generation cellular data networks

Do-it-yourself health care technology has become a hot area, as smart devices promise to transform homes, workplaces, and cell phones into accessible sites for health monitoring and intervention. Yet claims of novelty require a decidedly short-sighted view of history. In recent years, do-it-yourself (DIY) health care technology has become a topic of speculation in medical and financial journals, as smart devices and wearable technologies promise to transform homes, workplaces, and mobile phones into more accessible sites for health monitoring and intervention. The auditing and consulting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers ranked DIY health care number 1 in its top 10 health industry developments of 2015, and the wireless-telecommunications giant Qualcomm recently began final judging rounds on its Tricorder XPRIZE, a $10 million global competition to “stimulate innovation and integration of precision diagnostic technologies, helping consumers make their own reliable health diagnoses anywhere, . . .

100 years of telemedicine

A review of activities of Centro Internazionale Radio Medico (International Radio Medical Centre, CIRM) from its foundation in 1935 until its 80th anniversary in 2015 was accomplished. CIRM was founded in 1935 to provide medical assistance via radio to ships with no doctor on board and other distant patients who cannot be reached by a doctor. In 1950 CIRM was established as a non-profit-making foundation and has benefited since 1957 from an annual contribution from the Italian government. Review of CIRM case histories and other published material from 1935 to 2015 and presenting them in a scientific yet simplified manner through the use of basic mathematical analysis. All the data was collected from CIRM's official archives in Rome. The results achieved by the Centre over 80 years include medical assistance to 81,016 patients on board ships (as well as on small islands and aircraft), with more than 500,000 medical messages received and transmitted. CIRM from its inception was organised into a medical service, a telecommunications service and a studies section. In 2002 the Centre was recognised as the Italian Telemedical Maritime Assistance Service (TMAS). In the 2010 the Centre was reorganised as a structure articulated in 4 departments, namely maritime telemedicine, telecommunication, research and occupational medicine. This was achieved to cover the different activities related to comprehensive health protection of seafarers. The 24-h continuous medical service is provided by doctors at the CIRM headquarters. The doctor on duty gives instructions for managing the case and continues to follow the patient with subsequent appointments until recovery or landing. In case of emergencies CIRM co-ordinates the transfer of patients assisted on board ships to a hospital ashore. CIRM has developed innovative approaches for the treatment of diseases and accidents on board of seagoing vessels by introducing standard telemedicine equipment on board ships, allowing the transmission of biomedical data from ships to the Centre. These new solutions are aimed at bringing a significant improvement of medical care for seafarers.

Palliative care plays a crucial role in enhancing the quality of life for individuals facing serious illnesses, aiming to alleviate suffering and provide holistic support. With the advent of telehealth, there is a growing interest in leveraging technology to extend the reach and effectiveness of palliative care services. This article provides a comprehensive review of the evolution of telehealth, the current state of telemedicine in palliative care, and the role of telepharmacy and medication management. Herein we highlight the potential benefits, challenges, and future directions of palliative telemedicine. As the field continues to advance, the article proposes key considerations for future research, policy development, and clinical implementation, aiming to maximize the advantages of telehealth in assisting individuals and their families throughout the palliative care journey. The comprehensive analysis presented herein contributes to a deeper understanding of the role of telehealth in palliative care and serves as a guide for shaping its future trajectory.

Biography Waheed Arian, 33, is a radiology specialist registrar in northwest England who has established a telemedicine scheme, Arian Teleheal, whereby UK medics use Skype to advise their clinical colleagues at emergency departments of major hospitals in Afghanistan. Founding the Arian Teleheal telemedicine charitable trust ( www.arianteleheal.com ), through which volunteer medics in the UK advise medics in conflict zones about emergency topics, using simple platforms such as Skype and Facebook. Do you support doctor assisted suicide?

Despite being an ancient surgical specialty, modern urology is technology driven and has been quick to take up new minimally invasive surgical challenges. It is therefore no surprise that much of the early work in the development of surgical robotics was pioneered by urologists. We look at the relatively short history of robotic urology, from the origins of robotics and robotic surgery itself to the rapidly expanding experience with the master-slave devices. This article credits the vision of John Wickham who sowed the seeds of robotic surgery in urology.

In the history of electrocardiography the names of two physiologists stand out: Augustus Waller (1865–1922) and Willem Einthoven (1860–1927). Waller was the first to show that the beating heart produces a weak electric potential, which can be registered by a measuring device connected to electrodes attached to the skin. Einthoven developed a 'string' galvanometer, which was much faster and more sensitive than the system used by Waller. Einthoven's electrocardiograph was ready for use in 1903. To facilitate investigations of patients Einthoven connected his instrument to the Academic Hospital in Leyden, by a telephone line, as suggested by his engineering colleague Johannes Bosscha in Delft. The first successful tele-electrocardiogram was transmitted on Sunday 22 March 1905. The heart tones were registered by wiring a specially developed microphone placed on the subject's chest to another string galvanometer. The event was therefore a first both for tele-electrocardiography and for telephonocardiography. We are still awaiting the full-scale implementation of these achievements, 100 years later.