The TAP project TELEINVIVO has developed a transportable telemedicine workstation to be used in isolated areas such as islands, rural and crisis situation areas. In one custom-made device, it integrates a portable PC with telecommunication capabilities and a light, portable 3D-ultrasound station. The system developed has a low price, low weight, is transportable and non-radiating.

The integrated workstation uses advanced software techniques to collect 3-dimensional ultrasound data on a patient. The doctor, in the field, scans the patient and transmits the acquired 3D data set via Internet, ISDN; phone line or GSM to the distant expert. After the transfer of the 3D ultrasound data and during the on-line co-operation, only control signals (e.g. position of mouse, activation of buttons etc.) are transmitted over the network. Nevertheless, both partners see exactly the same image on their screens. A fixed station for expert diagnostic support was set up at the Coimbra University Hospital in Portugal. The field test sites included the Azores and Canary Islands; UNESCO is evaluating TELEINVIVO in Uganda and Kazakhstan, at two different sites in each country.

The hardware integrates a personal computer (PC) and a ultrasound device. The ultrasound device is connected to the PC byy a video cable connecting the ultrasound video output to the input of a frame grabber, and a spatial motion tracking system that records the position and orientation of the ultrasound probe. The data set can be transferred over a communication line integrated in the PC to a remote expert using another TeleInViVo unit. The local doctor and remote expert can interact collaboratively with the data to produce a common diagnosis. A battery integrated in the power supply of the system means it can be used as a portable emergency system.

The software is based on the InViVo (Interactive Visualiser for Volume Data) software package, developed over several years in Fraunhofer IGD. It was mainly designed for a fast and interactive visualisation of volume data, including optimized compression/decompression algorithms, implemented by CCG in Portugal. Together with the 3D ultrasound freehand scan extensions, it has become a commercially available product.

The clinical partners using the system under the guidance of the University Hospital in Coimbra, Portugal, are:
- HUC - Hospitais da Universidade de Coimbra, Portugal
- HPD - Hospital de Ponta Delgada, Azores, Portugal,
- University Hospital, La Laguna, Spain,
- UNESCO ITU Telecentre and Nakaseke Hospital, Nakaseke, Uganda,
- Mulago Hospital, Kampala, Uganda,
- Central Regional Hospital, Aralsk, Kazakhstan,
- Almaty Diagnostic Centre, Almaty, Kazakhstan.

In the exploitation of the results of the project, three main partners are involved:
- DSC as a supplier for computer hardware for medical devices;
- PIE Medical as a manufacturer of ultrasound devices;
- Fraunhofer IGD as the main software supplier.

MedCom GmbH is a spin-off company founded by Fraunhofer IGD, specialised in medical imaging software and licensed to commercialise TELEINVIVO ScanNT software, which serves as basis for the TELEINVIVO system.

Since mid-1999, MedCom has been evaluating the TELEINVIVO software for commercial exploitation together with ESAOTE, Italy and EbitSanita, one of their offspring companies, in numerous demonstrations and testing sessions.