Progress 09/01/19 to 08/31/23
Outputs
Target Audience:The target audience of this project included veterinarians that were exposed to telehealth concepts, veterinary students that were exposed to telehealth concepts and benefited from case investigatipns conducted via telehealth connections, and post-doctoral research associates that benefited from the study design, implementation, analysis and reporting experiences afforded by the project. Veterinarians, legislators, professional organizations and state boards of veterinary medicine benefit from the validation work conducted in this project. The swine and pork production industry benefits from the confirmation that clinical skills can be effectively transferred via a telehealth connection when exigent disease conditions warrant, such as when a foreign animal disease is introduced to the US swine population. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?The final year of this project allowed for completion of PhD level research projects for one post-doctoral research associate. This student continued to progress through their PhD program, focused on veterinary telemedicine, and anticipates completion of their PhD in 2024. A multitude of new veterinary students (~150), undergraduates (~20), and veterinarians (~30) were directly exposed to telehealth techniques through the final year of this project. Several speaking engagements introduced telemedicine to new audiences, includingpresentations at the ISU Swine Disease Conference, the ISU Digital and Precision Agriculture advisory board, the AASV Board of Directors, and the ISU Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Research projects, presentations, and collaborations have exposed large groups of veterinarians, veterinary students, and farmers to telehealth in the field. Efforts from this project directly exposed over 230 students and 70 veterinarians to telemedicine consultations. Additionally, at least 170 veterinarians and pork producers attended presentations related to telemedicine through work on this project. An additional group thatcannot be estimated include those that listened to podcast platforms where this work was discussed. Further, two manuscripts are in the final drafting process for submission to peer-reviewed journals. These publications fully acknowledge NIFA Grant funding support for this work and have the anticipated titles: "Evaluation of in-person versus telehealth techniques for training students on sample collection in swine", and "Validation of telemedicine techniques for wean-to-finish site assessments". What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?
Nothing Reported
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Building on progress from the previous periods and reports, the final year of this project consisted of rigorous validation of new telehealth technology including smart glasses, expansion of telehealth adoption by introducing groups to telehealth tools, and creating and distributing technical resources for using telemedicine in food animals. Interest in telehealth generated from previous work on this project resulted in additional funding from the Iowa Farm Bureau that was used to purchase two different styles of smart glasses. Smart glasses can facilitate live, synchronous telehealth consults, while allowing the on-farm personnel to be hands-free. These glasses were tested in 40 telemedicine consultations that evaluated the farm and pigs, and 20 clinical skill trainings for blood and oral fluid collection. Through these efforts, an additional collaboration with one of the top-three pork production companies was initiated, which exposed the veterinary staff, production managers, and animal caretakers of this company to the technology. Additional testing of both the smart glasses and the tablets used in previous years work was performed during the final year of this project. Throughout the previous years, we discovered that color transfer was often poor through the telehealth connections. To evaluate color transfer, over 30 telemedicine consultations were performed, evaluating a variety of objective livestock marking colors present on pigs. Through these efforts, greater understanding of the capabilities and limitations of the technology was discovered. Further, a large group (~30) veterinarians were introduced to telemedicine techniques. These veterinarians were from a variety of backgrounds including academia, private practice, production systems, and diagnostic careers. Several new groups were introduced to telehealth tools during the final year of this project. A class of ~150 veterinary students visited a commercial swine farm via telehealth in an Iowa State University College of Veterinary Medicine core course. This experience allowed the students to observe a farm visit, see an additional case during their didactic training,have direct communication with the veterinarian on the farm, and observe sample collection.Additionally, a live telemedicine demonstration was performed for the Iowa Pork Producers Association Board of Directors, exposing numerous veterinarians, pork production companies, and pork industry personnel to telemedicine capabilities. The American Association of Swine Veterinarians (AASV) recruited expertise from this project to assist in drafting and presenting a position statement on telemedicine for the association. This position statement was accepted by AASV Board of Directors in the summer of 2023. Several technical resources were completed and published during the final year of this project. An SOP catalog consisting of all SOPs developed during the project was created for veterinarians and farm personnel to utilize off-the-shelf technology to facilitate telehealth consulations. Further, a video was created compiling common challenges and practical solutions that were discovered throughout the work on this project. These resources can be found at:https://iastate.box.com/s/nq9l2vqfuas25q88i5ghs3fy4iet4z8n.
Publications
- Type:
Other
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2023
Citation:
Petersen, M.B. (2023) Telemedicine in Swine Veterinary Practice: potential, challenges, and drivers Part I and Part II. Podcast episode on the Swine Health Blackbelt Podcast.
- Type:
Other
Status:
Other
Year Published:
2023
Citation:
Petersen, M.B. (2023) Telemedicine. Lunch and Learn presentation for Iowa State University College of Veterinary Medicine AASV Chapter, Ames, IA.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2023
Citation:
Petersen, M.B. (2023) Telemedicine capabilities in swine medicine: a practical approach to solving telemedicine challenges in the field. Oral presentation at the 2023 James D. McKean Swine Disease Conference, Ames, IA.
- Type:
Theses/Dissertations
Status:
Under Review
Year Published:
2024
Citation:
Petersen, M.B. (2024) Telemedicine capabilities and limitations in swine medicine. PhD Dissertation for PhD in Population Sciences in Animal Health at Iowa State University, Ames, IA.
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Under Review
Year Published:
2024
Citation:
Petersen, M.B. et al. (2024) Evaluation of in-person versus telehealth techniques for training students on sample collection in swine. Journal of Veterinary Medical Education.
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Under Review
Year Published:
2024
Citation:
Petersen, M.B. et al. (2024) Validation of telemedicine techniques for wean-to-finish site assessments. Journal of Swine Health and Production.
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Under Review
Year Published:
2024
Citation:
Petersen, M.B. et al. (2024) How sensitive is telehealth at detecting visual lesions? An evaluation of synchronous and asynchronous telehealth connections at detecting marks on pigs. Journal of Swine Health and Production.
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Progress 09/01/21 to 08/31/22
Outputs
Target Audience:During this reporting period, our primary audience was undergraduate and veterinary students. Twenty-three students learned about veterinary telemedicine through an experiential hands-on opportunity to use the technology on a swine farm. These students were trained on sample collection (blood draw and oral fluid collection), and facilitated a farm assessment with a veterinarian using telemedicine techniques and procedures developed in a previous component of this project. Swine veterinarians and pork producers were also impacted during this reporting period. Each of the telemedicine visits were performed on commercial swine farms, providing direct telemedicine exposure to several swine veterinarians, production staff, and animal caretakers. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?A DVM, post-doctoral research associate has been able to pursue their PhD focused on veterinary telemedicine techniques as a result of this project. Further, this student has continued to develop teaching, research, and clinical practice skills through efforts on this project. This period resulted in progress on two PhD-level research projects focused on validation of veterinary telemedicine techniques. During this period, veterinarians in academia and production were directly involved and exposed to veterinary telemedicine techniques. These individuals were trained on the SOPs for the equipment utilized, and a standardized SOP for clinical skill training and farm evaluation via telemedicine. Additionally,23 niave students (consisting of undergraduates, veterinary students, and veterinary technicians) learned and directly used telemedicine in the field. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Collaborations have resulted in student groups, veterinarians, and production companies to have direct exposure to telemedicine in the field. The next period will be focused on widespread dissemination of the results, refining the SOPs, and making the content publicly available. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?The COVID-19 pandemic expedited veterinarian's use of and familiarity with video-conferencing platforms. This has allowed the work to not only be focused on developing SOPs for using the technology, but also validating different telemedicine techniques including clinical skill transfer and site/pig evaluation. The next period will be focused on 1) continued testing and validation of newly developed telemedicine technologies and techniques, 2) distribution of results/lessons learned to a large, diverse audience of veterinarians, veterinary students, and pork producers, 3) refinement of SOPs and creation of a publicly-available, digital catalog of telemedicine SOPs, and 4) compilation of video footage for a publicly-available video demonstrating tips for successful telemedicine.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
During this period, 24 unique Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) were created using readily-available, off-the-shelf combinations of software, hardware, and connectivity technology. These SOPs underwent rigorous testing where they were utilized in at least three telemedicine consultations and used to 1) train naive students on sample collection (blood draw and oral fluid collection), and 2) systematically evaluate the farm and pigs themselves. Through these efforts, nine different software platforms, two tablet devices, and two connectivity platforms demonstrated successful telemedicine connections. This period was characterized by rigorous testing of a variety of hardware, software, and connectivity options for telemedicine in the field. Initially, a proof-of-concept, pilot-study was performed at three different farms that consisted of a telemedicine consultation. Each of these visits resulted in successful, synchronous telemedicine connections where a naive student successfullylearned clinical skills via telemedicine instruction, and the farm was evaluated. This was followed by more comprehensive SOP testing achieved through 30 telemedicine consultations that evaluated the farm and pigs, and 20 telehealth clinical skill trainings for blood collection and oral fluid collection. These efforts directly exposed 23 niave students (consisting of undergraduates, veterinary students, and veterinary technicians) to telemedicine in the field. Further, one of the top-ten largest pork production companies collaborated on this project, directly exposing several veterinarians, production managers, and animal caretakers to the technology. Several other noteworthy accomplishments were achieved during this period. A story board, script, and footage were captured to create telemedicine video content for veterinarians to better utilize and implement telemedicine in practice. Collaborations were initiated with a veterinary telemedicine software company, a barn-sensor company, and cross-species collaboration/idea sharing with a large poultry production company occured routinely. Successes from this period generated more interest in veterinary telemedicine research that resulted in additional funding from the IowaFarm Bureau.Finally, the entire Swine Medicine Education Center (SMEC), consisting of five veterinarians and two support staff, gained technical expertise in veterinary telemedicine in the field that will be directly implemented in veterinary student teaching efforts. Progress was driven by apost-doctoral student under the mentorship of the SMEC director. This student continued to progress towards their PhD in Population Sciences in Animal Health, with a research focus on veterinary telemedicine.
Publications
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Progress 09/01/20 to 08/31/21
Outputs
Target Audience:
Nothing Reported
Changes/Problems:We don't expect any substantial changes to the original objectives.In fact, the rapid expansion of acquired familiarity and competence with web-based meeting platforms improves the potential reception of our work by farmers and veterinarians. The waxing and waning of COVID-19 impacts and the associated interruptions tofarm access may continue to slow our on-farm validation of SOPs in an unpredictable manner. Specifically, farmers and producers restrict non-employee visits to farms to protect workers and prevent widespread emplyee outages that would be detrimental to employee and animal welfare. We will continue to adjust to these issues as they occur and have broadened our network of potential collaborator farms to reduce the impact of these access issues to project progress. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?The newly hired post-doctoral student has thoroughly backgrounded in existing telehealth programs and software platforms as well as summarized the current state regulatory requirements for veterinary telehealth in United States. A strategy to accomplish objectives at an accelerated rate in the next reporting period has been developed. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?
Nothing Reported
What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Utilizing our updated list of current top technologies for software, hardware, and connectivity, we will continue assembling functional SOPs. In late 2021, a proof of concept trial is planned for a farm in north west IA that does not have reliable cell phone coverage using a mobilized directional antenna amplification system. We will also enlist naive students through contacts in the Iowa Pork Industry Center to tet the abiliyt to pass along technique training.SOPs will be tested by naïve individuals and edited as needed to create user-friendly guidelines for connecting via telehealth. We have also been invited to join the efforts ofARA: Wireless Living Lab for Smart and Connected Rural Communities, the new platform in central Iowa complements the technical specialties of earlier PAWR platforms, adding a focus on technologies for rural broadband connectivity. It is part of the Platforms for Advanced Wireless Research (PAWR)program funded by NSF, USDA-NIFA. Telemedicine provides their engineering and design efforts with mission critical content.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
A critical component to progress during this reporting period was farm access and the ability to take students to farms to see if critical clinical skills could be transferred via telehealth connections. The ongoingCOVID-19 pandemic,associated restrictions on farm visits imposed by cooperators, and the previously reported one-year delay in hiring a post-doctoral student for the project effectively prevented substantial progress during this period. Preparatory and backgrounding work continued, a post-doctoral student was hired late in the reporting period and farm access has begun re-open to us. We have an aggressive number of farm visits through the next reporting period starting in fall 2021. Our goal with the project centered around developing connectivity SOPs using consumer available, off -the-shelf technology. Due to the pandemic driven move to remote work and education, these platforms have expanded significantly so we have nearly 30 technologies to potentially test. Meanwhile, at least two platforms that were not in use prior to the pandemic have entered the marketplace with population medicine capable, commercial telehealth platforms. While excluded from testing on farms, we have engaged these platforms to learn more about their capacities and aid in their development into a platform that functions in the unique swine medicine environment. We have also spent effort better understanding connectivity at swine farms in the Midwest. Generally speaking, farms fall into fourbroad categories: 1) connected with a permanent internet connection and wifi throughout the farm, 2) covered by cellular connectivity that is strong enough for devices in the farm to function and 3) sites that may reach cellular data coverage with directional antennas and signal boosting equipment, and 4) farms that are not connectable using existing infrastructure. To determine the status of individual farm requires direct measurement at the farm and cannot be assumed from service maps. This is because farm structure itself (primarily metal buildings, metal penning in a cage orientation, animals inside, mechanical interference) impacts connectivity. We were able, throughthe farm contacts of the Swine Medicine Education Center to begin identification of sites that would allow for accelerated trial work in the next reporting period.
Publications
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Progress 09/01/19 to 08/31/20
Outputs
Target Audience:The target audience reached by our efforts in this reporting period was veterinarians, primarily swine focused veterinarians, and veterinary students that were participating in clinical rotation studies that used various telemedicine platforms to become familiar with the associated competencies. Changes/Problems:After completing univeristy start approvals and startup paperwork as originally planned, the start of the pandemic coincided with the timeline for hiring a post-doctoral research associate to focus on this project. Withpandemic restrictions evolving, and while the full extent of what they would be were unknown, I delayed hiring a post-doc for the project until this year (one does start May 24, 2021) As to my effort, I was drafted to the Iowa Resource Coordination Center to help producers that had no market access find a human way to euthanize their animals, had to reinvent our clinical courses in a hybrid format, and we lost access to most farms because farmers were worried about their labor force getting sick. All of these issues are resolving, but they leave us a little more than a year behind with limited activity on the project so far. (The telehealth work with VetNow, although informative and consistent with the project objectives, is not part of the grant or its deliverables since it is a proprietary platform). I think we will catch up to some extent, but find it unlikely that we will avoid an extension request. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Veterinary students participated in the training modules and used telehealth platforms to experience the process and investigate client herd health issues. Post-Doctoral Research Associates participated in the organization of the modules' training events and conducted on-farm evaluations of health as direct comparisons to the perceptions and data transferred via the telehealth platforms. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?
Nothing Reported
What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?We expect that limitations encountered due to pandemic provisions will be lifted and work as outlined in the original plan will resume at an accelerated pace.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Subobjectives one, two and four were advanced by seeking collaboration from rapidly emerging proprietary telehealth platforms to connect students on exsiting clinical rotations with farms. This collaboration led to the development of a day-long training module that was implemented in 3 different clincal rotations of the primary swine medicine course. This connected a total of 15 students with 7 farm sites and included 5 practicing veterinarians, 3 post-doctoral research associates and several additional faculty as observers. This introduced the students to the concepts and considerations of telehealth consistent with these subobjectives. Additionally, the Project Director and Post-Doctoral personnel developed expertise in measuring cellular signal strength at farm sites. This is now a standard data collection expectation for any farm visit within the SMEC group. This allows for mapping and identification of candidate sites when grant activities resume post-pandemic.
Publications
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