Abstract:
High quality is important in medical imaging, yet in many geographic areas, highly skilled sonographers are in short
supply. Advances in Internet capacity along with the development of reliable portable ultrasounds have created an
opportunity to provide centralized remote quality assurance (QA) for ultrasound exams performed at rural sites world-
wide. We sought to harness these advances by developing a web-based tool to facilitate QA activities for newly
trained sonographers who were taking part in a cluster randomized trial investigating the role of limited obstetric
ultrasound to improve pregnancy outcomes in 5 low- and middle-income countries. We were challenged by connec-
tivity issues, by country-specific needs for website usability, and by the overall need for a high-throughput system.
After systematically addressing these needs, the resulting QA website helped drive ultrasound quality improvement
across all 5 countries. It now offers the potential for adoption by future ultrasound- or imaging-based global health
initiatives.
