Integrated telediagnostic and epidemiological system to reduce cervical cancer incidence in Mexico

Because of considerable delays introduced by the current diagnostic procedure and lack of dynamic knowledge availability about cervical cancer geographical incidence in Mexico, Information Technology solutions are required to support both diagnostic improvement and epidemiological assessment. We propose an integrated telediagnostic platform and epidemiological information system, based on standard open technologies, capable of epidemiological geospatial information analysis, as a reliable alternative to reduce cervical cancer diagnostic delays, and improve epidemiological knowledge, particularly in rural areas. This paper presents the integrated system architecture, along with its innovative elements like a Specialized Telepathology Electronic Patient Record based on JPEG 2000, an optimized application design that allows synchronous information exchange without dedicated server repositories and an adapted relational database, coupled to a geographical model, to analyze the demographic characteristics of women population being at risk of developing the disease.