The i-Stroke system, based on Twitter and smartphones, is being successfully used by specialists to coordinate patient stroke care in a pilot at six Japanese hospitals. It is designed to rapidly transfer diagnostic images and clinical information (such as the NIH Stroke Scale score) from a hospital “stroke server” to a physician’s smartphone, preloaded with diagnostic management tools. The consultation occurs via tweets seen only by the message recipient and all information is plotted on a three-hour timeline. The mobility and speed is far greater than the typical telemedicine consult from medical center to community hospital. Developers are Dr. Yuichi Murayama, director of the Center of Endovascular Surgery at the Jikei University School of Medicine in Tokyo, and Hiroyuki Takao, an instructor at the hospital. The study of 160 patients was presented at the Society of NeuroInterventional Surgery (SNIS); a US trial prior to FDA approval is pending. FierceMobileHealthcare. SNIS press release (highly detailed). Study abstract (Stroke)