Cybermedicine - what is possible, and is it useful?

The medical domain provides excellent opportunities for the application of computer graphics, visualization, and virtual environments, with the potential to help improve healthcare and bring benefits to patients. Possible applications include anatomical educational tools; patient education; diagnostic aids; virtual endoscopy; planning aids; guidance aids; skills training; and computer augmented reality. This talk provides a comprehensive overview of the state-of-the-art in this exciting field, including examples from research projects and commercially available products. The term cybermedicine was discussed and used to categorise those medical applications that can be delivered via the World Wide Web, preferably in the context of a collaborative virtual environment. The issues for effective cybermedicine was highlighted, and we will look ahead to future developments