UA doctors have taken their research expertise south of the border to help develop new technology that will save lives.

In December, the Arizona Telemedicine Program opened a molecular medicine and telemedicine facility in Panama City, Panama.

The center, which utilizes telemedicine to treat patients in rural and developing areas, is a collaborative effort between the UA and the University of Panama.

Telemedicine is the use of computers, video imaging, fiber optics and telecommunications for diagnosis and treatment of persons in rural, geographically isolated communities and state institutions.

Through funding from research grants and contracts, American and Panamanian doctors are able to conduct groundbreaking research in multiple fields. The focus of the center is a research project dealing with cervical cancer.

Doctors are working with the Department of Defense to develop new imaging technology that will detect the cancer in its earliest stages; they'll be using gynecological procedure called a colposcopy, in which a binocular magnifying lens is used to inspect the cervix and uterus for signs of cancer.

Ronald Weinstein, director of ATP and head of the UA pathology department, is one of the doctors leading the research.

"We're very excited, and we're just beginning our first study in collaboration with the Department of Defense," he said.

Weinstein said the Department of Defense has a specific interest in this project because it must confirm that a female soldier is in good health before she is deployed. If a soldier ready for deployment undergoes a physical examination and has an abnormal Pap test, her superiors must quickly determine whether or not she actually has cancer.

The colposcopy will allow a fast and accurate diagnosis. And the technology could benefit the approximately 14,000 women diagnosed with cervical cancer in the United States every year because early detection makes treatment much more effective.

Sandy Beinar, the associate director of the telemedicine program, said, "Early detection is lifesaving."

Panama served as an ideal site for the research because of its long-standing friendship with the United States and because many women in the region are diagnosed with cervical cancer, Weinstein said.

"Our interest in Panama stems from the fact that they have one of the highest incidences of cervical cancer in the world," he said.

After performing clinical tests with colposcopy imaging, the research team will begin its next project, which involves researching the connection between human papillomavirus, a sexually transmitted disease, and cervical cancer.

The National Cervical Cancer Coalition Web site states HPV is one of the "strongest risk factors for cervical cancer." The telemedicine doctors want to determine whether or not there is an abnormal strain of HPV in Panama that leads to higher incidences of cervical cancer.

The relationship between the UA and the University of Panama began in August 2000 when ATP was invited to Panama to help the Panamanians pilot a telemedicine program.

"We provide technological support and training to them. The entire national program in Panama is based on the UA program," Weinstein said.

Within the next 18 months, the Arizona program will also be working in Mexico and China to help those countries set up telemedicine programs. Kosovo is tentatively next on the list.

The center in Panama will serve as a model for programs in all of those countries.

ATP was created by the Arizona Legislature in 1996 in an effort to better serve the medical needs of the state's rural residents.

Using telemedicine technologies, doctors in remote locations can examine patients and make diagnoses.

This type of medicine is useful in developing countries where the infrastructure is not reliable and people have to travel long distances to see a medical specialist.

"If it was not for telemedicine, these people probably wouldn't be treated," Beinar said.

The doctors in Panama can plan clinical research with UA doctors via broadband telecommunication videoconferencing, which is also used for distance education.

Several members of ATP will travel to Panama Tuesday to conduct research and begin clinical trials.

"Being able to work with a population with such a tremendous need is phenomenal," Beinar said.